Arashi no Rakuen
by Rosa Angelicus
Summary: Generation to generation, he would be known as the boy of legend who sacrificed himself to spare his village from the Storm God's wrath. But no one would know what sort of mess he had been pulled into. *YAOI, AU, possible OOC, other surprises inside.* ON HIATUS
1. Saisho no Monogatari

A/N: So, another excursion, but this time into my beloved fantasy realm. Science fiction is fun, but it's exhausting making sure Ever After tied in with Heart Under Siege. I'd like to say that this could, possibly, be my magnum opus in fanfiction writing, though judging how popular Heart Under Siege was, part of me doubts it. No matter; I shall write this as if it were my magnum opus!

I've always loved Japanese myth, history and culture. I grew up in Japan when I was little, my mother became a total Japan-o-phile while living there (thus there's a lot of Japanese antiques in the family home) and so much of my daily life (in fact, MANY people's daily lives) has had some influence from Japan, from the technology we use, to the games and tv shows we play and watch. In short, I feel that by writing this, it's a small homage to what I've grown up with.

Another contribution to the creation of this story was the manhwa (Korean manga for those who don't know) _Bride of the Water God_. It's a really beautiful story with such fantastic artwork. I suggest to everyone that to have at least one volume of this series; it's an epic. There will be some parallels, mostly to do with how the story begins, but other than that, I've endeavoured not to borrow too heavily from it. Especially since the situation has two male leads as the main couple rather than a heterosexual couple being the major characters; thus, we need to take a different angle.

Small disclaimer: I have a gripe about people just throwing in Japanese around in stories when it makes little to no sense as to why it's even there to start with. Especially if it's predominantly English (i.e. the language is translated into English if the setting is Japan or another non-English speaking country) and the story's universe doesn't hint at the possibility of other languages and countries/worlds. Square doesn't do that in their games! The only time I've seen them use another language was in FFX when there was clear indication of an entirely different race of people with their own language were living in Spira (and Bhujerba in the Ivalice universe; clear indications that it was an entirely different culture). This story, although there are Japanese terms and phrases, and there _will_ be Japanese characters (letters) used, I'm going to limit them as much as possible for the sake of the story, i.e. I will not be using honorific terms such as "-san", "-kun" or "-chan" because…they are speaking in English, and we do not use these terms in English; we use nicknames or titles such as "Mister". Other part of the disclaimer is the translations used here; I'm learning Japanese, thus it is _not_ perfect. I've had to check and recheck words that I wanted to use, experiment a bit with katakana, look up the particles to see if I'm using them correctly, etc. to make sure it all made sense, but I can and probably will make mistakes. I've also researched into the costumes named here in this chapter, and in subsequent chapters too. Many of them are simple to describe, but some outfits are so complicated and intricate that it could take forever for me to list the details; I suggest to you to go research into them yourselves if you don't know what they are. Wikipedia have some diagrams of outfits, but for the ones they don't have listed, there is a link in one of their articles that will take you to a site that will have diagrams of many if not all the outfits found in the Heian period /end disclaimer/

Well, that's all I've got to say. I sure do hope y'all enjoy this story. I've enjoyed writing it so far! It's filled with so many plot twists and turns that it makes a haunted house with loads of secret passages look straight. /end bad joke/ Please read, review and enjoy! And lose yourself into the fantasy that is…Arashi no Rakuen! /end bad attempt to sound overconfident/

* * *

Rain was still rapping against the stone tiles of the rickety hut he lived in, almost as if it were determined to bash the house down to the ground. He could only stare out to his sodden yard, listlessly looking at all the drowned plants that he had once so dutifully tended to after his mother's death. This would be the last time he would see it. This was the last time he would ever be in this hut, sleeping on tatami, cooking his evening meal, tending to the small plot of land where he grew some vegetables and generally doing all the chores he had to take up when he was left alone only two years ago.

Today was the day he would be sacrificed to appease the god the village didn't even know they had angered. Some said they had been too arrogant in the skill of their fishing that they claimed they didn't need the help of the gods; some said it was because they had refuted the power of the gods by claiming that all their hard work on the land was of their cause alone. Some even claimed it had been the fault of the village elder's wife, who claimed that her son could best the god at any sport he wished. Whatever the reason, the outcome had been the same. A torrential typhoon. The kind that hadn't been seen in many years. The kind that was deemed to be unnatural because of the sheer extent and mass of the downpour, and also because of the irreversible damage caused by it. Crops had drowned, the sea was too dangerous to fish from and the roads were so flooded that it was deemed impossible to travel outside the seaside village. Something had to be done. And the priest had found the handy solution.

He remembered the day when the whole village had come together to discuss the matter. The priest, an old balding coot that drank too much and prayed too little in his opinion, had declared that the god they had angered, Arashi no Kami, would only be placated if there was a sacrifice. The sacrifice being casting the poor victim out to sea in only the clothes he wore and a boat without a single oar. So either the martyr drowned in a storm that wasn't needed, or starved to death in awful heat when a storm was needed to end a drought. The question was who would be the sacrifice? They already knew that the sacrifice would have to be a young unmarried man or woman. There were some who said it was the village elder's wife's fault, thus her son should be sacrificed. There were some who claimed it was the fishermen's fault, so one of their young daughters should be cast off. There were some who claimed it was the farmers' fault, so one of their offspring should die. But it had been the priest that had very quickly found the solution once more. Sacrifice the orphaned young man. It was his fault for the typhoon. It must've been his apparent arrogance in his own beauty that had set off a jealous spark within the malicious storm god. Before he even had a chance to protest his innocence, the villagers had agreed with the priest. As long as it was not one of their own, they wouldn't care.

Thus why he was here now, wearing fine clothes that were not his since he didn't own any. Looking at the home he had to leave forever. Saying goodbye to the life he once knew, and the life he had ahead of him if he had been granted the chance to continue living. He could've married, had a family, farmed the land and lived in relative peace. But he hid all the feelings of regret and loathing behind a straight face.

For generations to come, he would be known as the boy of legend who selflessly sacrificed himself to appease the lion-headed dragon god that created the storms in order to save the village from being drowned or washed away by the raging storm that terrorised them. They would twist the events so much so that he would be some sort of pious youth from a good family who accepted his fate. No one would remember his unwillingness or how he had been forced into the ritual.

He watched as a figure appeared through the veil of mist and rain, clutching tightly to a paper parasol that was meant to keep them dry. As it neared his hut, he noted how wet and muddy the man's feet had become. He could only guess that these long ceremonial robes he had been given would get the worst of the weather too.

"It's time," he was told. The man's face was hidden under a large sugegasa; ritual decreed that the sacrifice was not to look upon the face of any man, woman or child on the day they would be given to the gods. The young man could only nod, slowly standing up and bringing the strip of cloth he had been holding in his hands to his eyes, tying it behind his head and stripping his vision away. He felt his body shake underneath the robes as he was taken by the wrist and led away to the beach. He knew that if he fought here, he would only be taken by force there.

He heard the rain slap against the muddied roads and streets of the village, his geta-clad feet sinking into the mud while the fine robes slid across the slimy surface like a snake. He didn't really worry so much about his borrowed clothing though; he would be dead soon so his appearance was the last thing he ought to worry about. Soon mud gave way to sand, and howling winds were joined by crashing sea. The young man took a deep breath, letting himself be helped into the boat that would carry him out on his last voyage. By now, he was soaked to the bone; the typhoon had managed to penetrate all twelve of the robes that made up the jūnihitoe he wore. He felt the soft cloth whipped away from his face, heard the priest saying his so-called appeasements. He didn't look back to the beach, staring out to the grey open rough water. The place that would soon be his grave.

He closed his eyes, glad that the rain was hiding any tears he made. He was afraid. He didn't want to die. He had wanted to live a normal peaceful life like everyone else did. He never asked to be orphaned, never asked to be looked down upon as just a mere fatality that could be afforded to make. He was finally cast out; he didn't look back. The village had betrayed him.

While out at sea, the young man wondered if all this was really worth it while struggling to stay in the rickety old rowing boat. Would the god really stop the storm? Or would he only punish the village further for even believing such a stupid ritual would appease to his anger? Personally, he had hoped for the latter but at the end of the day…he figured that the villagers had suffered enough. He clung to the wood as he felt the boat tilt dangerously, it only just about managing to stay upright while it was bashed from all sides.

"If you can hear me," he cried out, looking up at the sky. It was no longer about the village now; ultimately he wanted to survive this! "Please! Stop this storm! Arashi no-"

His words were cut off as a large wave surged right on top of his small boat, breaking the wooden vessel in two and forcing the young man under the water. He couldn't swim to the surface; the weight of the jūnihitoe was preventing him from moving effectively. He tried to shed as many of his robes from his frame, desperation to survive kicking in as he struggled to the surface.

When his hand grabbed onto the remains of the boat at long last, all had gone black. He supposed that he was finally leaving this world.

Arashi no Kami had abandoned him.

* * *

The sky was a deep hue of light blue around the island, the pristine white sand of the beach unspoiled, rocks ranging from shadow black to gentle grey peeking out from under the whiteness as if shy of the world. The white and grey cliffs towered over this beach, and above them was an expanse of green fields and forests. This island was truly a paradise befitting of a god.

The soft symphony of natural voices was soon disrupted by childish yelping and tired, annoyed yelling.

"Sora! Get back here!"

A boy stopped and swiftly turned on his heel, looking back to his companion with a smile that was as warm as the sun. Spiky, choppy brown locks that appeared to defy gravity and framed his cherubic face swayed gently in the sea breeze, bright blue eyes grinning with a mischievous light. His clothes were simple; indigo happi with black hakama, the crest of Arashi no Kami -a large, coiling lion-headed dragon wrapped around what looked to be a dagger, the head resting atop the pommel of the blade's handle- printed on the happi's back.

"You're too slow Riku!" the boy called Sora teased, playfully putting his hands on his hips and grinning down at his tall companion from his perch on top of a towering grey rock. The poor friend in question was in similar clothing though he had left his happi undone and, unlike the brunet, he was actually wearing his zori. He was unearthly pale, with luminous green eyes and flowing silver hair that he had pulled up into a bun, fastened together with wooden hair sticks. He wasn't amused at all by the other boy's antics.

"For a yoake no seishin, you don't take your duties very seriously," the older boy called Riku scolded, furrowing silver eyebrows at the brunet.

"Lighten up. There's always going to be a dawn! I don't _have_ to be at every dawn chorus, y'know."

"Yes you do Sora! You're nearly a thousand years old! You have to set an example to the younger seishin!"

"What about you? Surely a chikyuu no seishin like yourself has better things to do than making a yoake no seishin do his job!"

The silver-haired one frowned heavily at that. "Don't make me drag you down here. Angering someone who has power over earth is a very stupid thing to do bird boy."

"Landcrawler!" Sora fought back, sticking his tongue out at him. "I can fly dummy!"

"Sora will you just-!"

"Whoa! Riku! You have to take a look at this!" The yoake no seishin was suddenly distracted by something, jumping down from his perch and running to whatever it was the piqued his interest.

"Hey this is no time to play games!" Riku reproached, chasing after the younger seishin. Both stopped as soon as they approached the thing that lay before him.

A man with golden hair and dressed in what looked like the remains of possibly a very expensive set of ceremonial robes was sprawled across the wet sand, knocked out but still breathing. Sora bent down, tilting his head lightly. "What is he?"

"Don't know. I don't think he's a seishin. I don't feel any magic coming from him," Riku reported. The chikyuu no seishin was sensitive to such auras that the yoake no seishin was not.

"A tenshi then?"

"Don't think it's that either. He's not wearing a hagoromo." The older seishin made an odd face. "But then again, he might have lost it if he did have one." Sora looked at his companion with amazement, only to be disappointed by Riku's next observation: "But you usually find hagoromos on the women, so it's unlikely he is a tenshi."

"Then what is he?"

"…I don't know. I've never come across anyone like this." He looked over to Sora. "Maybe we should bring him to the palace."

"Do you think Arashi no Kami will be mad at us for bringing him though?"

"He might be even madder if we leave him here."

"Hrmm…then I guess I'd rather bring him then. But…how are we going to do that. He doesn't exactly look light to me."

"I don't think you'd be strong enough to carry him Sora." Riku pondered over it a bit before saying, "Maybe we should just carry him by foot."

"But the palace is so far away!"

"Then we better start walking then. I'll take the shoulders, you take the feet."

"Okay."

* * *

When he opened his eyes, Sora and Riku could only wonder what the mysterious man's reaction would be. They had managed to carry him as far as the gateway that led onto the beach, heaving tired themselves out carrying him up the grand stairs hewn into the cliff-face. He blinked at them, and they blinked back. It had been Sora, ever disliking of long silences regardless whether they were awkward or not, that had spoken first.

"Hi! I'm Sora! Who're you?"

The man's face became very peculiar, as if he was confused by what the seishin had said. Riku peered at the strange being, wondering if he could even understand what Sora was saying.

"Uhh," Sora started, looking just as confused. "Can…you…under…stand…me?" he asked again, dragging out the sentence.

"Anata dare? Soshite…koko wa doko?"

"What?" Sora looked at the stranger with aghast. "What's he saying Riku?"

"So he's a human…" Riku mumbled, seemingly having not heard the other seishin.

"Riku!"

"Hmm? Oh, beats me. I can only read and write the human language. I'm awful at speaking it."

"Some help you are!"

"Koko wa doko?" the man asked again, this time sounding like he was losing patience with them both.

"What are we going to do? We can't help him if we can't understand him!" Sora wailed.

"Seriously, the only worth you have seems to be your singing voice," Riku grumbled.

"What was that?"

"He's _human_. That means that he must have heard about this place in _human legends_." Riku gave him a flat stare. "We can start from there." He turned to the golden-haired man, giving him a kind smile. He placed a hand on his chest. "I am Riku, a seishin." He pointed to Sora. "He's Sora. Another seishin." He then pointed to the palace. The golden-haired man followed his finger, eyes blinking at the impressive size and decoration of the gate. "This is Arashi no Rakuen, home of the Arashi no Kami." The man's eyes widened considerably; clearly he had understood that.

"Do you think we'll be able to understand him?" Sora asked. "If humans are as similar as you're telling me?"

"They aren't _that_ similar," Riku retorted. "They just know about the worlds the gods live in. That's all."

"Then how're we gonna communicate with him?"

"Probably through writing until we can think of a better solution. But let's worry about that later. The poor man looks like he nearly half drowned in the sea!"

"Surely not the Mizu no Kami's doing!"

"More likely it's our honoured lord's doing. He has been in a fairly foul mood lately."

"Oh yeah…do you think he's still angry at that village for not paying their respects to the gods?"

"Maybe. They probably deserved it though. Humans are the most stupidest creatures in all creation anyway."

"That's a bit harsh on them…"

"Etou…shitsurei?"

"Oh! Right," Riku shook his head quickly to get him back onto the task at hand. "Let's get him inside. Remember Sora, if anyone asks, just say he washed up on the shore. We don't know who or what he is."

"But we know he's human…right?"

"On the basis of what language he's speaking? For all we know he could be a creature that's mimicking a human."

"Now you're just being confusing Riku!" Sora yowled. He grabbed the man by the arm, pulling him up as he started walking. "Come on! If we're gonna get into trouble just for bringing him in, might as well get it over with!"

"Eh! Sora!" Riku followed after him. The man looked terribly confused, and maybe a little bit frightened by now, asking repeatedly: "Doko ni tsure te ku tsumori? Oi! Kaitou watashi!" Riku didn't know what was worse. The fact that the mortal was becoming distressed, or the fact that a lot of the creatures that served the storm god were beginning to stop and stare at them.

"Sora, let's just get him somewhere," Riku hissed through his teeth. "If Yuffie catches wind that we've got a human with us, we're going to get butchered to death."

"But I thought she wouldn't mind seeing as she's a human herself," Sora pondered.

"Sora, the difference is that Yuffie was _saved_ by Arashi no Kami. We have no idea if this one was saved by him too!"

"What's the problem?"

"The problem is, my dear naïve friend, that humans aren't _supposed_ to be here unless there was divine intervention by someone that had the powers of a god. And if memory serves me well, there is _one_ who is the highest ranking, two who are lower down and have no say in who comes and goes, and another two who aren't even in permanent residence here."

"…Oh yeah."

"Is that all you have to say?"

"This way!" Sora suddenly jerked to the right, disappearing into a room. Riku could only follow, fearing just what the koukennin, or worse Arashi no Kami, was going to do to them if they found out. The golden-haired mortal was still looking very bemused by everything as Sora sat him down on the tatami, fluttering about the room in a panic. "What are we gonna do? What are we gonna _do_?"

"First, we're going to stay calm," Riku soothed, knowing that once Sora became distressed all his brethren were going to come charging to comfort the small brunet. He still hadn't forgiven Sora for that one time they were play fighting on the beach and he had overreacted…that time, Sora's brothers and sisters had found the chikyuu no seishin on top of the younger yoake no seishin in a rather compromising position. For all his naivety though, Sora hadn't seen what the fuss had been about though.

Maybe that was why Riku was still close to the seishin even after all the lumps and bumps he had been put through. The brunet tried to take deep breaths now, stilling himself to one place, perched on the only window sill in the room.

"Now, we're going to try and communicate with the human," Riku stated, looking around for something to write down. He might not have been able to understand spoken human tongue, but he could read and write it. It was the next best thing they could do. "Sora, find something we can write with. And _whatever_ you do, don't say a _word_ about this."

"Roger Riku!" Sora saluted, suddenly jumping out of the window.

"Nani ga oko te iru…?" the man grumbled in his native tongue, curling his body up so that he was hugging his legs, raggedy robes flimsily hanging off his arms by mere threads. "Kore ha yume suru hitsuyou ga arimasu…"

"Um…" Riku frowned, unsure of what the other had just said. There were times he wished that he did take up an offer to be a guardian of one of Shizen no Megami's temples. He might have had more contact with the humans and learn their language a lot better. He only knew what their words meant because usually one of the more scholarly creatures had translations underneath the original text. They didn't even bother to spell the word out phonetically, which would've helped out in this situation. "Sorry…I'm not much help to you right now, am I?"

The strange man frowned for a moment, then looked at him questioningly, pointing at him, "Anata no seishin no ka?" Judging from the way his voice raised lightly at the end of his sentence, Riku could only guess he was questioning his authenticity as a seishin. He placed a hand over his chest.

"Yes. I'm a chikyuu no seishin." He then looked over to where Sora had been. "Sora's a yoake no seishin."

"Shikashi…" the man started, getting onto his knees and looking at the silver-haired one in curiosity. It took the seishin by surprise, having thought the human would probably back off at the sight of a far more powerful being. "Watashi ha seishin ga doubutsu no sugata to omo tei ta."

"Umm…I'm sorry?"

"I'm back!" Sora's voice cried. He appeared suddenly from the window, clutching what looked like a long scrapped scroll and what looked like a vial of ink with a brush in his hands. He jumped from the window sill and handed it over to the elder seishin, looking like he was worried. "Kage no Kami…I think he knows something's up."

"What? He's here?"

"I was just as surprised as you! He said that something important came up here!"

"OK…let's just try and get through to him as quickly as possible." Unrolling the aged paper, he pulled out the stopper keeping the ink in and started hurriedly writing out in the shaky characters of the human language, praying that he was remembering it correctly.

**こんにちは。あなたの名前は何ですか****?**

The man looked at it, looking relieved at the familiarity of what he was saying. He glanced up and murmured, "Kuraudo."

"What a funny name," Sora commented. He yelped when he felt Riku's fist collide with his shoulder.

"OK Kuraudo," Riku smiled, writing again.

**何が起こった****? ****どのように海で終わるのですか****?**

Kuraudo frowned lightly, clearly contemplating on how to answer this. He gestured to the brush; Riku handed it over, watching the strange man begin to write. "What did you ask him?" Sora wondered.

"I just asked him how he ended up in the sea. I mean, surely it must've been an accident." He noticed that Kuraudo had finished.

**私は嵐に台風を停止するも神を犠牲にされた。**

Riku's eyes widened at that. Sora looked at him expectantly. "What did he say?"

"He was supposed to drown in the sea…"

"What? Why?"

"He's a sacrifice."

"A sacrifice? They still do that?"

"Not so loud Sora!" Riku hissed.

"Eeto…kare ha anata no tomodachi desu ka?" Kuraudo asked, looking up over their heads.

"Huh?" Sora tilted his head, looking confused. "Could you write that down?"

"Sora…"

"It's OK, Riku. You'll translate that, right?"

"Sora…"

"Eeto…"

"Hey, why are guys sounding so-" he stopped when he realised that Riku was looking over his shoulder. He slowly glanced over, gulping when he saw a familiar darkly coloured kamishimo, looking up to see the less than impressed face of the Kage no Kami, Zexion.

"So this is where you were stowing him," the god raised an eyebrow. Faster than they ever had been before, they both got on their knees and apologetically bowed, keeping their eyes to the floor, Sora blabbering just how sorry he was while Riku just nodded his head in agreement. The god just sighed. "You're just lucky that we were expecting him anyway and that you found him for us. I'd be more upset if you were trying to keep him as some sort of surreptitious pet."

"Expecting him, my lord?" Riku asked, daring to look up slightly. "If I…may be so bold, what do you mean by that?"

"What I mean is that your lord and sovereign's subtle kindness got the better of him again." Zexion heaved another great sigh. "Honestly, why do I have to deal with such fickle ryoushu?" He walked straight past the two seishin, though the small gap between them, bending down to look at the human who had been looking at him this whole time with a lingering sentiment of uncertainty. Fear might have been exaggerating; this was a man that had allowed himself to be sacrificed after all. If one didn't fear death, then there might not be much he feared at all.

But he could tell that there was a mistrust. This man had been forced into facing death without fear, betrayed by the people who he grew up surrounded by. He put a hand on the man's head. "You've been put through too much for one so young. A language barrier is the last thing you need in this world." The man yelped suddenly; Zexion knew that what he was experiencing was a slight alteration in his mind so that the human could speak and understand the language of the spirit world. Doing this though, it effectively would cut him off from his human world.

He doubted that the human would want to go back to his world anyway. He took his hand away, watching the human crouch in pain, clutching his golden head tightly as he grunted a few more times. "The pain will subside soon."

"It freaking well won't you bastard!" came the rather crude response. Sora and Riku, having watched all this unfold before them, gasped in surprise.

"We can understand him!" Sora exclaimed; it was obvious that he was relieved that there wasn't going to be anymore awkward moments because of lack of understanding. However, he was very much ignored by the god; he seemed more interested in Kuraudo.

"You're very lucky to be alive Cloud."

"How do you know my name?" He then looked shocked. "How can I…understand you…?"

"I'm a god. I can be all-knowing as well as all-powerful." Behind them, he could hear the yoake no seishin quietly asking his chikyuu no seishin friend why the human was suddenly being called 'Cloud'; the silver-haired one rationalised that 'Kuraudo' was probably how the humans pronounced his name. "However, I'm not as all-powerful as, say, Arashi no Kami."

"Arashi no Kami…what has he got to do with this?"

"Everything," Zexion responded curtly. "He's the one you owe your life to." He then bowed lightly. "He's also the one that's ordered for your presence." He then looked over his shoulder at the two seishin. "You two as well. You have a lot of explaining to do." He smirked lightly when he saw them flinch, then turned his attention back to Cloud. "I understand it's a lot to take in, but please consider this place as your new home."

"…this has to be a dream…"

"That's what the last human who ended up here said." Zexion stood up, offering a hand to the other. "Come now. It's best not to keep him waiting."

For a moment, the room seemed to have been stilled in time. The human could only look at the hand offered to him, as if wondering what would happen if he did go along with all this…and what would happen if he rejected it. Zexion didn't goad him, and the seishin said nothing to him that might influence his decision.

He stood up and took the chance. The god only thinly smiled. "Excellent choice." He turned, giving a look to the two seishin that had now only dared to stand up. "You two, forward march." He looked over his shoulder to the golden haired human. "Please follow me Cloud."

* * *

Cloud had lost count of the number of walkways and hallways they had gone through, not to mention all the servants that had stopped in their work to just stare at them. He had been used to being stared at because of his golden hair and sapphire-hued eyes, but not to this extent.

"It's been nearly five hundred years since Arashi no Kami saved a human," Zexion stated knowledgeably. "Many of the younger generation have never seen what a true human is."

"I'm…the only one?"

"The only _true_ one."

"What does that mean? Are there others?"

"Only one other."

"Why aren't they a 'true human'?"

"Because she's five hundred and eighteen," Zexion responded. "Thus she isn't a 'true human'."

"An immortal?"

"Yes."

If he had been in the mortal realm, Cloud might have just laughed and brushed the tale off. But the fact that he was here, the fact that he was alive, the fact that he could suddenly understand what these people were saying, it was enough to make Cloud believe anything.

"This place…"

"Hmm?"

"Is this…heaven?"

"You could say that," Zexion responded in that cold, methodical voice. "It's one of many heavens that the gods govern. This is Arashi no Rakuen, the court of the storm god."

"…I ended up here…but…how…"

"You'll have to ask Arashi no Kami when we get to the public chambers. He is the one that ultimately decides who is allowed into his haven and who is not."

"But why me? I should have died that day!"

"Are you not happy to be alive?" Zexion asked, stopping in front of a tall, imposing door that was gilded with gold. "Had it not been for Arashi no Kami, you would have sunk to the bottom of the sea. Were you really so willing to die?"

"No, it's not like that…but…"

"Say no more. That's a question no mortal, human or not, should answer." He pressed a hand to the door, pushing lightly. It opened fully, as if it had been pushed by a powerful force and not a light touch from the god. "Follow me. And remember, humility is the better part of gratefulness."

The public chambers were large and spacious, with wooden flooring that gleamed in the sunlight pouring from the opened shoji doors and impressive, golden fusama that had sceneries of the landscape in the mortal realm, birds, animals and fantastical monsters painted upon them. Lavish soft furnishings and lacquer furniture were artistically placed around the sides of the room, symmetrical to each other, a sign that this was a place of meetings and business, not a room for living in.

It was the occupants that had Cloud most surprised.

It was doubtless that they were gods. They all looked so different to the people that had lived in his world, from hair colour to impressive height and build. There was a man clothed in black hakama and haori with an impressive array of fiery red spikes for hair and two strange teardrop marks under his cat-like green eyes. There was a young boy who had golden hair that shone like the rays of the sun and eyes that were as blue as the sky, dressed simply in a plain white yukata with a thin black obi belt to secure it around his small form. There was a young blond woman too, two locks of hair springing up like the antenna of a praying mantis, eyes the most acidic green, wearing a short informal kimono coloured green with an electric yellow wide obi wrapped around her waist, secured by the ayame musubi knot. Lastly, there was another young man who had a strange hair style; part of it raised up towards the sky, and yet the rest fell past his shoulders like a waterfall. His eyes were teal, the same colour as the glittering calm sea, and he was dressed in a kosode that was dark blue. To complete the image, the man was playing a strange stringed instrument with an elongated neck, and a large, rotund body.

In Cloud's mind, any one of these gods could have been the one that had spared his life.

"This the human he was talking about?" the woman asked. Her voice was clipped and sharp, like a bolt of lightning.

"Yes Larxene," Zexion replied. "This is he."

"Hmm…" She stood from her spot, coming over to the human and peering at him, her head bobbing up and down as if to ascertain if he was worth the effort of saving or not. "He doesn't look like much but…"

"Hey, don't go scaring the new pet already," the flame haired man smirked, casually leaning back onto his arms.

"Lay off Axel!" the woman shrieked, glaring daggers at him.

"Make me."

"Both of you stop," Zexion ordered, giving them both warning looks. They were silenced immediately. "Brothers and sister, let's not make our honoured guest feel uncomfortable or afraid in his new home."

'Brothers and sister'? Did that mean that none of the four here were the Arashi no Kami he had heard so much about since arriving here? Then who were they? The youngest looking god stood now, looking at the human with curiosity. "Is he really going to keep this one?"

"If he was not, he would have let the human drown in the sea like he had done the rest." He then turned to the seishin. "Besides, he may have predetermined that these two would find the human on the shore."

"These two found them?" the man with the strange instrument asked, stopping his music all of a sudden.

"And tried to hide it. They must have thought the human had turned up here by accident." The seishin in question had kept a meek stance, both clearly nervous as to what their fate would be. "Where is our most honoured ryoushu?"

"Where d'ya think?" the one called Axel questioned. "He's still recovering from that storm. I bet saving this guy just drained him even more."

"I see." Zexion turned to face the human and the two seishin. "Since Arashi no Kami is still resting, you two return to your duties. We'll decide on what to do with you later. Go." They made a hasty exit, leaving the human with the five gods. Zexion now addressed Cloud, "It would probably be best for you to rest and change out of those rags."

"Aww, can't he stay a little longer?" the man with the instrument pouted. "He's the first human here since Yuffie."

"He washed up on the shore, numbskull," Larxene frowned, giving the man a slap around the backside of his head. "We can't play with him just yet."

"I dread to think what your idea of 'playing' is Larxene," Zexion drolly commented.

"I wasn't going to break him!" she exclaimed. "Well at least, not yet."

"Hey, no playing with the new human, Larx," Axel smirked. "Youngest always gets first dibs on the new toys."

"That isn't you."

"True. But Roxas is."

"What?"

"Please don't drag me into this Axel," the young boy murmured, looking a little uncomfortable. "At the end of the day, he does belong to Arashi no Kami…"

"Hey, I already told you: don't discount yourself. You've got the talent to become a ryoushu later on too."

"I really wouldn't call it that…" The youngest of the gods looked a little bit bashful at the praise from the red-haired god. "I'm happy just being a kishi for now."

"Axel's right though. You do have the potential," a new voice added, earning some surprised looks from the gods present. The voice sounded…childlike. Cloud tilted his head lightly, looking around to try and find the voice.

"My lord, how long have you been there?" Zexion asked, looking straight towards the fusama that had the most intricate portrait of a lion-headed dragon with cracks of black lightning and grey thunder clouds darkening a golden sky. It slid open slightly, not enough for anyone to see who it was behind the screen.

"Enough to hear what was going on," the voice replied.

"Won't you come out then?" Roxas asked, walking over to the door and getting onto his knees, looking to push the door further open, but suddenly stopped and retreated his hand.

"Is he the human I saved?"

"Yes," Zexion replied. "Does he not appease you?"

"No…it's not that."

"Then why aren't you coming out?" There was no response from behind the door. It had been Axel who then, rather jokingly, asked, "You're not being _shy_ are you?"

"I am not!" came the indignant reply. Roxas gave Axel a glare over his shoulder. The red-haired one shrugged. "I can have you banned from here Axel!"

"Not when you're itty-bitty like that," Axel taunted. There was a bit of glee in his voice. "There are days when I absolutely love it when you're like-"

"Axel, that's enough," Zexion warned. "Don't antagonize our lord."

"Oh come on! This is one of the only chances I get to-"

"Finish that sentence and I'll get mad!" the voice yelled. "Or have Rai and Fuu beat you up!"

"He-Hey! Take it easy! You know I'm only joking around!"

"Pranks and jokes shouldn't be made on a god higher than you Axel," Zexion reprimanded, giving him a withering look before turning his attention back to the fusama. "Everything is alright, my lord. No one is going to judge you." He walked over to where Roxas was kneeling, looking through the slit. "It's best to introduce yourself to him now, so that he understands the situation." Another silence. Zexion sighed, mumbling something about how he was no good with children. "Come on now. Don't be so childish."

It seemed to have done the trick, for the fusama opened fully. Cloud's eyes blinked at the sight, having expected something more monstrous, more imposing than what was standing before him.

Although elaborately dressed in a hanjiri outfit that was pitch black with accents of white and red to accentuate his figure, the god that stood before him was just a little boy with choppy dark brown hair and intense storm blue-grey eyes, a mysterious scar crossing the bridge of his nose at a diagonal slant. It was what was said next that made the whole situation…just too unbelievable for Cloud.

"Cloud, this is Lord Squall, otherwise known to you as Arashi no Kami," Zexion introduced. "He's the one that saved your life."

In a situation like this, if it hadn't seemed so ludicrous, Cloud might have bowed. It wasn't impossible for feudal lords to be just children after all. But a god, reputed to have a terrifying temper and an even more daunting yet horrifying appearance, being just a mere child?

All he could do was stand, stare…and then laugh at the whole absurdness of it. "Heh…heh heh…" It only started quietly, trying to hold it all back. A child…it was a _child_ that had every last human in his world running scared. Not some hideous draconic creature. He couldn't help but just laugh at the stupidity of his own race. And laugh he did. Loudly, enough to earn stares of incredulousness from the other gods there. "Hahahahaha!"


	2. Futsuban no Monogatari

**A/N:** Initially I wanted to finish chapter 26 of Ever After and post them both at the same time. But I figured I'll save you guys the anxiety and post this chapter now. Thank you all for your reviews thus far, and for favouriting or watching too :) I know the first chapter wasn't full of surprises, but we'll get there eventually. Promise.

I'll also try to respond to everyone's reviews when and where I can, even if its just a little thank you note. I haven't done it in a long time (but that's because of uni and my suddenly busy social activity).

Please continue reading and reviewing! For reviews are my Chinese.

* * *

Cloud was still finding it a struggle to stop laughing at himself. Knowing that the Arashi no Kami that the world had come to fear, the god that was supposed to be a monster that would eat anything smaller than itself, was actually just a small child, Cloud had realised that mortals really didn't know anything about the deities they worshipped. Even so, he figured himself to be quite lucky that the god hadn't lost his temper; a quick explanation from Zexion that the human was still coming to terms with their world had saved him from being struck by divine lightning, or whatever other power the tiny god had.

It had been what the little storm god had declared that had shocked Cloud out of his amusement. "_From now on, he's my personal attendant. He's not allowed to even DIE unless I give him permission too._"

Personal attendant…how did he get that kind of role? Did the god just intervened because he wanted someone to be his caretaker? Somehow though…he doubted it was just that. Back in his old world, there had been tales of gods whisking young women away to be their brides or lovers, sometimes even young men were taken away.

But then he put that knowledge together with that of the fact that Squall looked only about ten years-old at most. A boy that kind of age was not looking for a bride or a lover, regardless of what gender they were. Even so…why him? When he had so many others that could do that job?

"Thinking about it isn't going to get you your answers," Zexion had pointed out. The minor god (or 'kishi' he had learned that was what the minor gods were called) was guiding the way to where Cloud would be staying, having persuaded the little god that the human needed some time to rest.

"Then could you tell me why he saved me, of all people? Surely there's someone better at this role I've just had thrust onto my lap!"

"The ways of the ryoushu are even a mystery to a mere kishi like me," Zexion effortlessly deflected the question. "You're better off asking him for answers." He then stopped for a moment, lifting his head up to the sky, face looking inquiringly into the trees. "Is something the matter Rikku?"

"Huh?" Cloud blinked. Was the Riku he knew here? He soon got his answer.

A small sprite-like being with a blonde hairstyle that was strangely akin to a mandrake suddenly appeared from the trees, her tiny frame barely covered by strange revealing clothing he had never seen before. What looked a pair of red, orange and yellow wings sprouted from her back.

"Um, Lord Cid sent me to talk to Lord Squall. He wanted to know if he could dock the Highwind here for a couple of days."

"What stopped you from going there?"

"He's scary!" Rikku wailed. "He's always in a scary mood after a storm's happened!"

"He's been placated now," Zexion responded. "A little fragile maybe, but he's willing to have an audience. Besides Rikku, you're the messenger from the Sukai Shin. You can't let a god's attitude stop you from performing your duty."

"I know that," she grumbled sulkily. "Sorry for not being as fearless as Paine…"

"What Paine is and isn't is not the issue here." Using a finger, he pushed the floating creature along. "Fly along now. You have an important task to do."

"OK, OK." She flit past Cloud, not even giving him a second glance. The blond turned, watching her go until she disappeared from view.

"What was…"

"Rikku is one of the ryoushus' messengers. Specifically the Sukai Shin's."

"Are they that important?"

"They're like a particular ryoushu's ambassador. They're treated with the utmost respect, because they're probably the closest creature to the god they're serving."

"Huh…that so?"

"Still finding it hard to believe?"

"Right now, I don't really know what to believe." He pursed his lips tightly, tempted to gnaw at them in his anxiety over his new surroundings. It was all…so surreal. Until now, he didn't really believe many of the creatures and spirits he had seen in passing even existed, making him wonder how many more mythical beings really did exist.

"You'll find your bearings in this world eventually. Yuffie, Lord Squall's koukennin, did."

"Koukennin?"

"Mmhm. Sort of like… a bodyguard."

"A god? Needing a bodyguard?"

"God's are immune to many things. A fatal injury to any certain weak points in their body is not one of them."

"So you can be killed?"

"Ironic, isn't it?" Zexion smiled thinly, turning at last to face the golden-haired human. "We who are invulnerable to the passage of time and the maladies that strike your world can be killed if someone knew where a weakness was on our forms."

"Not very godlike," Cloud commented.

"You humans made us gods. We just make sure your world runs smoothly."

"The caretakers then."

"I'd say that aptly describes what we are. When you need rain, we give rain. If you want fields of crops, we provide the fertility needed for them. You want meat, we give you animals to hunt."

"Then why do bad things happen? Like tsunamis, typhoons, earthquakes, forest fires…"

"Punishment," Zexion replied shortly. "You humans get too big for your own boots sometimes."

"Why not just punish those that deserve to be punished?"

"Do you know how difficult it is to singularly punish one person without disturbing the balance in one area?"

"No…"

"Exactly. Please don't question our means. We control whole elements in this existence, not human morality or fortune despite what you might think."

"Right…forgive me for my 'transgression'." Cloud knew that his tone had a stinging barb to it, but the god didn't say anything, merely frowning at him before turning away.

"Don't blame us for what your village did to you. We have no control over humans."

* * *

Yuffie Kisaragi had a habit. A fairly bad one, but it proved to be useful from time to time. As part of a long family line of ninjas, she had learnt all of the skills and secret techniques from the Kisaragi clan, including how to become practically invisible by hiding 'in plain sight'. In this case, she had used that skill to follow the Kage no Kami and the strange human that had entered her lord's domain, listening to little bits and pieces of conversation.

Now, you would be forgiven for thinking that she was doing this as ordered by the Arashi no Kami. But in reality, she was doing it for another person. Someone who had been as close to the god as her, but paid the price for becoming too intimate.

The Garden of Penance was a beautiful small walled garden, special in its own way. With only one walkway connecting it to the storm god's palace and all the rest leading into the ruins of the old palace, all it had to its name was one gnarled and withering sakura tree and one shallow pond that didn't even have a newt living in it. The ground was mostly stone, though its only occupant managed to shape them in a way that was pleasing to the eye yet also provoked strong feelings of repentance and reflection as well as sadness in the viewer. Said occupant had also constructed a small tent in the corner behind the tree for him to live in, utensils always put away so not to disrupt the peaceful scenery. A place like this, Yuffie could never have imagined that its first purpose was as a place to punish the wicked in this sacred haven within the realms of mortal and divine.

She sat on the walkway with her legs crossed over each other like a lotus flower, looking into the garden to see if she could find the only other koukennin in Arashi no Rakuen. "Yo, Seifer! Ya got a minute?"

"When don't I have a moment?" A blond-haired man appeared from behind the tree, hakama loosely tied around his waist, sword and belt strapped across his chest. A sheen of sweat glistened on his pale body; further away, looking like it was sunning itself on the wall, was a white hagoromo, a rarity for a male tenshi to possess. Yuffie grinned lightly at the imprisoned tenshi.

"Thought I'd give you an update of what's going on around here."

"Alright." He sat down on one of the rocks placed artistically at the steps to the walkway, facing the smaller girl.

"Squally's saved another human."

"This makes this number three then, huh?"

"Yup," Yuffie smiled. "He's quite a looker as well."

"Hmph…"

"Same hair colour as you. Blue eyes. Pretty effeminate really; I thought he was a girl with a bad hair day at first."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"It can't be fun being out of the loop for so long," Yuffie remarked, soon fluidly moving onto her belly and letting her legs raise up into the air, chin resting on her palms. "Especially when you can't use your hagoromo to get away."

"Yuffie…I can't really use it anyway. It's more for show. Besides, it only truly comes into its own when I'm in the human world which I don't think I'll be able to go to any time soon."

"So? I still think it's sad." She then sighed. "You must've just looked at the sky and wished to be able to fly away from here."

"Don't start assuming I do those kind of things." Seifer's voice had gotten harsher at that; it was a sore spot for him, being trapped in one place but able to see freedom whenever he looked up. "I'm not some romantic deadbeat."

Yuffie giggled lightly. "Not what I heard from the other gods." Seifer looked over his shoulder, a flat look on his scarred features. "Apparently you used to go on about chasing dreams when you were younger."

"Young and stupid," Seifer dismissed. "Look where it got me. Damned for eternity, all because I pursued useless desires and dreams."

"So you're accepting this fate?" Yuffie asked quietly.

"I'm tired of fighting fate." He started walking away. "The day that I am allowed sleep, I'll start fighting again. Until then…all the others living here can continue to call me the Sleepless One."

Yuffie sighed, guessing that Seifer wasn't in the mood to talk about how he came to be punished like this. She clambered to her feet, brushing off the dirt from her viridian outfit. "Alright. I'll send Fuu and Rai to come visit you once they're done securing that last storm into its vessel. Enjoy your day." She was just waved off, the tenshi having decided to go back behind the sakura tree that he found sanctuary from the blistering heat. Yuffie took off on a run; it had been bothering her for nearly three hundred years, and neither god nor koukennin were willing to speak of what it was that had cursed them both in such a punishing way.

Dreams? Desires? A tenshi that was pinned to one garden and disallowed to sleep, and a god that had a curse that punished his body for every time he conjured a storm depending on how big it was? It all didn't make sense to her human mind.

But then again, nothing was ever that simple in this strange world. She was living proof of that.

* * *

The little god still hadn't returned to his room as night began to fall, unsure that he should really let his new attendant know about his… affliction just yet. That was why he was still sitting in his study, just watching the scenery and hearing the sounds of the evening chorus ring in his ears. Zexion approached him quietly.

"Still unable to revert back to your true form?" he asked carefully.

"I think I used too much power," little Lord Squall sighed, grumpily observing the sun set on his haven. "And Cid coming over just means another headache for me."

"Maybe you can persuade Axel and Roxas to go with him. That way you don't have to deal with both headaches after a few days." It was common knowledge that wherever the Taiyou Shin went, the Hi no Kami would follow.

"Axel's an entirely different kind of headache. He's in the same sort of league as Xigbar."

"Ah yes…how could I forget?" They fell silent for a while.

"I guess you'll leave too since you're the main advisor to all us ryoushu and the Souzou Shin," Squall commented.

"Hmm, unless I've been called for, I'll stay here for longer. I don't really have a desire to ride in the Sukai Shin's flying contraption."

"What about the Shizen no Kyuuden?"

"I'm sure it's very beautiful at this time of year, but I've already seen to Lady Aerith's matters."

"Ankoku no Sekai?"

"I wouldn't go there by choice."

"Souzou no Kootou?"

"I rarely go there as it is. Lord Xemnas only calls for me if the Tsuki ha Kami cannot deal with the issue by himself."

"Oh." Squall sighed heavily.

"Do you wish me to leave, my lord?" Zexion asked.

"No… I guess you could say… I'm a little nervous about this human." The Kage no Kami noticed the child god's hands were clasped together tightly. "I saved him because I took pity on him and maybe because he could help… I didn't expect him to look a little bit like… like…"

"He won't think differently of you," Zexion assured him, placing a hand on top of the tiny god's head. "And you never know… maybe this will be your chance for redemption from this curse."

"Maybe," Squall mused. The sun had finally fallen behind the horizon. His body began to slowly change. He frowned only. "Finally…"

* * *

Cloud couldn't fall asleep. Although he had a change of clothes -in fact, more than enough to last him a lifetime, and finer than anything he could have ever had hoped to own- and was placed in such an incredibly attractive room, he couldn't help but feel uneasy about the situation he was in. More over, he had yet to see the little god again. He had found out recently that his room was attached to the storm god's bedchambers so that he was never too far away to answer to whatever ridiculous order he may give, but even so, the god had been far too silent for his liking. Realising that the more he thought about it, the less likely he would fall asleep, Cloud slid from the bed, deciding that maybe a bit of air would clear his senses. He slid the shoji door open and stepped out, the cool breeze floating through the simple yukata he had been given to sleep in.

The view from the upper balcony was breath taking. The rising full moon looked upon a glittering sea as if it were admiring it's reflection in a mirror, the soft light it cast off dancing playfully in between calm waves before his eyes. The stars blinked like all-seeing eyes in the darkened face of night, granting starlight to this peaceful haven. There were countless gardens, some along the water's edge, some hanging off the cliff, some secluded into courtyards and some acting as gateways into the virginal forest behind the storm god's palace. In them all, an array of different trees and plants, from the very common to the very rare, rested, swaying in time to the wind that blew. Even the palace buildings were beautiful in this light, the pale moon illuminating the white walls, contrasting greatly to the black and grey stonework of the roof tiles and ornaments, overshadowing the brownness of the wooden hallways and balconies.

"How did I end up here?" Cloud asked himself, leaning against the banister. Not even the natural landscape of his old village seemed to hold a candle to this.

"Getting lost in the scenery?" The blond turned, seeing the luminous green eyes of the chikyuu no seishin that had found him earlier on that day.

"…Riku, right?"

The seishin nodded, turning to look at the view. "Are you comfortable?"

Cloud nodded in response. "I am but…"

"Still can't quite believe you're here?"

"…Yes."

They fell into an uneasy silence. Silver hair wavered lightly in the breeze, a small hum escaping the seishin of the earth. "You know, you'll learn to love it here." Cloud didn't answer. "I know…that your village is the place you want to go back to, but I hope…I hope that maybe you'll see this as your home."

"How long will it be…?"

"Till what?"

"Till it gets to the point where I am no longer human," Cloud whispered. "When I am too old and yet also so young that I can no longer be considered a human."

"Cloud…" Riku wasn't sure if it was his answer to give. "We seishin live a long time. Longer than humans. We don't age in the same way as humans do, and we have very little contact with them. So I guess…when you become fifty and still have the form of a young man, I guess you aren't human then." He seemed unsure though. "Don't take my word for it though." He then looked over to the blond; he thought he saw something glitter on the young human's cheek. "Cloud…are you upset?"

"No." He roughly rubbed at his face. "I'm fine." However, it appeared that Riku was more sensitive to how the human was really feeling. His hand reached up to Cloud's shoulder, patting it lightly.

"I know it's not much but…if something's bothering you, don't hesitate to come to me or Sora." He then smiled, though there was something awkward…something empty about it. "We're both here to help you." Cloud kept silent, looking back to the serene moonlit view.

With murmured words so soft that even the flap of a moth's wing could be louder, he whispered, "Thank you."

* * *

A scream echoed through the hallways of Arashi no Kami's palace, but it was so familiar by now that the servants and all others who dwelled in the hallowed place barely batted an eyelid to it. Zexion sighed, looking up from the scroll he had been idly reading, the din having blurred out the peaceful strumming of Demyx's instrument. The water god looked less than impressed himself, having hit a sour note at the scream.

"They're at it again," the honey-blond sighed, putting his exotic instrument down gently on the floor and putting his elbows on the bends of his folded legs, chin resting in his palms. There was an annoyance gracing his pale lips. "I swear Axel does it on purpose."

"I suppose its good practice for Kisaragi," Zexion dismissed. "If Axel can keep surprising her like that, I'm surprised she's been able to keep Lord Squall safe when he is at his most vulnerable when the odd oni appears."

"I'm more surprised that Roxas even allows it. Heck, I don't even think he knows how that hothead manages to sneak away long enough to pester Yuffie."

"Knowing our sun god, he's probably more interested in seeing to his duties in the morning than he is to what his trickster friend is up to." He sat up slowly. "Though it appears that Axel has since learnt his lesson not to cross swords with Larxene after that one time he messed with her maids."

Demyx laughed. "That was absolutely priceless what Larxy did to him."

"Get back here you twerp!" Yuffie's voice hollered. The two gods watched as the flame-haired one jumped onto the mock tiled roof of the zen garden wall, running along it and waving to the other two cheerfully. He had that odd glasses-contraption that the Sukai Shin had given to him strapped onto his head, eyes hidden under tinted lens. Not far off was Yuffie in her ninja garbs, swinging her oversized shuriken angrily at the fire god. "One of these days I'm going to skin you alive!"

"Not if you can't catch me!" Axel called back, disappearing behind the wall into the next garden, Yuffie catching up to him quickly. Zexion sighed.

"What's wrong?" Demyx asked.

"…it's Lord Squall."

"Huh?" The honey-blond sat up straight. "Did something happen?"

"It's his curse. I think…I think it's getting stronger."

"What? What do you mean?"

"Shhh," Zexion hissed. "Not so loud." The water god took a few calming breaths, letting his body slink down like a cat about ready to pounce on unsuspecting prey. The advisor god whispered, "Squall didn't make the full change."

"Huh? You mean he isn't back to normal yet?"

"He's in a teenager form at the moment. He isn't best pleased about it that's for sure, but he's not complaining." Zexion thinly smiled. "He said that he was glad that Axel didn't have an excuse to pick on him anymore."

"What happens…if the curse does get stronger?" Demyx asked.

"Honestly, I don't know," Zexion replied. He gazed into the distance. "I've tried so many times to have it reversed, tried so many times to appeal to Lord Xemnas to remove it, only for it to come to nothing."

Demyx could only groan in exasperation. "Sheesh, what is he thinking keeping that curse on the storm god of all people? I mean, what happened back then was bad but it's not bad enough for it to keep on going for over a thousand years!"

"Well, it could be that the punishment hasn't taken its full course yet," Zexion mused.

"Zexy," Demyx was looking more concerned. "Gods aren't _entirely_ immortal. And besides that, if this curse could kill him at the end, Arashi no Rakuen dies with him."

"I know." Zexion seemed unusually cheerful though. "It just means we have to find a way to stop it in its tracks before it gets out of hand." He stood up, brushing off dust that wasn't there, straightening out creases that didn't exist. "I'm going to go to the library at Yazushi."

"Huh? But that's in the human world! You could be gone for days!" Demyx had stood up at that; from the tone in his voice, Zexion could tell that the water god was upset that he was leaving so suddenly. The Kage no Kami only briefly smiled at him.

"That's the wonderful thing about these realms and havens the ryoushu and our ousama created. They created doors to each of them for convenience." He walked over to the small, mirror-like pond that was in the garden corner, looking over to Demyx with a serene look. "Would you do the honours?"

The honey-blond could only frown, but dutifully he played his instrument, charming his element so that it swirled into a raging whirlpool, the door to the city of scholars. Zexion bowed lightly in thanks. "I'll be back soon unless I'm called for elsewhere. Make sure Lord Squall doesn't push himself too much."

"Just make it back safe," Demyx called back, watching as the god of illusions and scholars jumped into the whirlpool, disappearing into the blackening depths. As the music died down slowly from its raging forte, so too did the whirlpool, calming back into clear still water.

The water god deflated, a sense of being left behind coming over him. This was the nature of the Kage no Kami; wanted everywhere so would travel everywhere, even if it meant leaving behind the ones he was close to.

The Mizu no Kami wasn't sure if he could bear any more goodbyes, even if they were never said.

* * *

Cloud was beginning to get the feeling that the little boy god didn't want anything to do with him in the short time he had been here. With little to do and no one willing to talk to him, he ended up venturing around the large palace, which only lead to another, older part of the palace, which then lead on to an even older part of the palace, and so on and so forth. A far cry from that little hut he lived in back in his village. Even the gardens looked so much more impressive than anything he could hope to cultivate.

But he couldn't help but think that, with all this wealth and clear opulence, why was so much of it disused? Why were there old palaces in such disrepair, and in such close proximity? It didn't appear to Cloud that they were even guest houses for visiting gods. He'd have to ask Riku about it; the chikyuu no seishin proved to be the more knowledgeable one out of the two seishin that found him. Sora's gift truly did lay in singing rather than anything else, clumsy and lackadaisical as he was.

"Are you lost?" a small, apathetic sounding voice asked into his ear. Cloud jumped several steps back, looking to who was speaking into his ear. It was another one of those sprite-like messengers, though this one had grey hair that was standing on end as if in perpetual fright, the pallor of death, crimson red eyes and clothed in the most revealing black clothes he had ever seen in his life. Her wings were like that of a bat and they way she carried herself she almost looked like a rebellious teenage girl. She pursed blue lips impatiently. "Well?"

"No," Cloud frowned, tempted just to swat her like a fly for frightening him like that. "I was taking a walk."

"This far into the old palaces?" the sprite disbelievingly questioned.

"If you think I'm trying to escape, I can assure you that I have no means and no knowledge of escaping back to my homeland." He then started walking ever deeper. "I became curious and decided to take a walk since there's not much else I can do. That's all." He then looked at her with a pointed look. "What would you be doing here, little pixie?"

"Pixie?" The creature took offence to that, zipping to face him and glaring at him with red eyes. "I'll have you know that I'm an important messenger for the Arashi no Kami! Not a _pixie_!"

"Fairy then?" Cloud offered. Despite the furious look on the messenger's face, the human did not feel the least bit threatened by her.

"Paine. My name is Paine."

"Alright then, Paine," he nodded. "I'm Cloud." The sprite only nodded her head back. "Now, think you could tell me why these palaces aren't being used anymore?"

Paine seemed to consider whether to answer or not. She then replied, "More to the fact that Master got tired of living in each one so built another one further away and then it just became a habit of his than anything else. This haven is huge so he has plenty of space to build whatever he wants."

Gods really were such wasteful beings, Cloud had thought, though he kept back from commenting. "I see."

"But…"

"Hmm?"

"Never mind. So, you still want to explore these old dumps or…?"

"I'd like to see more of this place," Cloud answered. "Maybe you could tell me more about your master while we explore."

"You don't know anything about him?" Paine questioned, her small eyebrows raising up in surprise.

"Surprisingly enough, everything I've been taught as a child seems to have been proven false as soon as I found myself in this world."

"Then I guess I could impart with _some_ information." The way she had stressed upon the word suggested she wasn't going to tell him everything, but Cloud didn't mind. Some information was better than no information.

"Good. Let's go then, and start talking."

"What makes you think you can boss me about?"

"I've become your master's personal attendant. I suppose that makes _me_ closer to him than _you_ are."

The sprite went mute. She then sighed crossly, clearly unhappy that she had been outranked by a mere human. "Fine."

* * *

'Little Lord' Squall was not so little right now, though not quite the age he wanted to be either. Still confining himself to his study and only wearing a kinagashi to cover himself modestly, he looked into his reflection within a hand-mirror that he always kept close to hand in his study. He only looked about eighteen now. By nightfall, he would have reached his preferred age of twenty-three. He ran a finger down the scar that travelled down across the ridge of his nose.

Right now, Zexion would be in his favoured human city, trying to find possible cures and methods to break this cruel enchantment the Souzou Shin had placed upon him. And a cruel curse it was too; the enchantment forbade him to speak of its full capabilities and what it resulted for him to anyone. But Zexion was not the patron of scholars for nothing; the storm god had a feeling that the kishi was figuring out the extent of the suffering.

And he honestly hoped that Zexion would. The enchantment was embarrassing and slow-burning but the way to break it was longwinded. Very longwinded. It had taken him a few thousand years for him to even find the one intended to break it. The issue now though was the scary -and somewhat humiliating- part of this process; having said person accept him for who he was despite his transformations and flaws.

Easier said then done when your 'intended' was not only a human of twenty-one years, but also a man, and that he, Arashi no Kami, the lion-headed dragon feared by all humans, was absolutely hopeless at conveying emotions to others. If it had been a woman, maybe Squall would have felt a little more comfortable in trying to woo her but a man…

"He really must have something against me," the god grumbled, running a hand through his earthen brown hair. "For him to decide that that boy is supposed to break this curse…" He felt a painful twinge on his chest, forcing him to take a look.

There, resting atop where his eternal heart should be under his skin, the dragon mark was burning into a darker brown, searing his skin even more. He growled in a feral grumble, rubbing it roughly in a bid to soothe it. With the mark getting ever darker and burning a little more each day, he knew that his transformations would not just be limited to after every storm he created. "I'm running out of time…"

* * *

"And here is where Master signed a treaty with hana no seishin, stating they could live here in this world in return for growing forests and flora alongside the chikyuu no seishin already here," Paine listed off as the approached yet another abandoned building. By now they had reached the oldest parts of the palaces, wooden structures on the verge of collapse, gold leaf buffeted away by time and wind and stone walls now grey and cracked. It looked truly pitiful.

"How could he let this fall into such disrepair…?"

"Master just likes a change of pace once in a while," Paine answered, but it seemed a bit more scripted than her usual monotonous replies.

"You're not telling me something."

"What makes you say that?"

"I can tell when someone's lying or not telling the whole truth."

"How?" Paine asked, clearly suspicious.

"That'll be my secret," Cloud replied. "Now, is there something you would like to tell me?"

"It's not my place to say." Paine flitted ahead of him, stopping right in front, hands on her hips, deep frown set into her tiny features. "Now, I think we should turn back. If you're not back by sunset, Master's going to be furious."

"'Master' doesn't own me," Cloud retorted. "I may have been made his attendant but I am my own person. As long as he refuses to see me, then I see no reason in me just sitting around waiting for him to show up." He gave the sprite messenger a very firm look, mind made up and holding his ground. Gods didn't scare him anymore. He died already. He couldn't die again.

"You have got to be either the bravest or stupidest human I've ever met."

"I'd like to think I'm the former." He then looked around, for some reason having felt like he was being watched. He looked to the sprite; she didn't seem worried at all. "Paine, this place isn't… haunted, right?"

"No. Why?"

"…It's nothing. It must be my imagination." But even as they started to leave, he couldn't shake the feeling off that a pair of eyes were staring into the back of his head.

He wasn't wrong. For they had passed the Garden of Penance, home to the Arashi no Kami's wretched prisoner. His blue eyes watched him carefully from his place hidden against the wall. "So that's our ryoushu's new attendant…huh…" A thin smile. "He's definitely something more special than a mere human."

* * *

With the Kage no Kami gone, it had fallen onto Larxene as the Kaminari no Megami and Demyx as the Mizu no Kami to act as the ryoushu's advisors. Both were stern faced as they witnessed the final transformation their lord had to go through, neither able to avert their eyes as it happened. The sound of a sleeve brushing against the skin of an arm was accompanied by the sound of a thin obi being tied, crickets and evening cicadas singing their evening hymn.

"You can't keep this up forever," Larxene said brusquely, her electric green eyes glinting like the thunderbolts she held control over. "Next time a storm must happen please allow me and Demyx to craft it."

"You're pushing your body way too hard. Zexion knows that this curse you've got is-"

"Be quiet," the Arashi no Kami, now finally in the form of a fully grown man, muttered, turning around only slightly to look through his brown bangs with storm-coloured eyes. "Storms can only be created by me. There is no way you could possibly try to make a simple rain cloud between the pair of you."

"But Lord Squall-!" Larxene cried out.

"Lightning and Water are just two elements that create a storm," he cut across her sharply. "Don't try to take on something you have no power over."

"…Then at least allow us to take some of the burden off you," Demyx murmured sadly. Maybe he was acting more on selfish whim, but he knew that if they could lessen the pain the Arashi no Kami was going through, then Zexion wouldn't have to leave so suddenly whenever he heard a rumour of a way to break the god's curse. "If we can control the elements you need, then surely all you have to do is bring them together, right? It would lessen your load and your responsibilities so-"

"I appreciate the thought Demyx," the brunet whispered, walking over to the balcony. The two kishi got up to their feet; they knew what their ryoushu was planning on doing. "But it's best to keep our responsibilities and duties separate." One foot was now on the wooden railing.

"You're going to go out, aren't you…?" Larxene grumbled in annoyance.

"Being a child is limiting on what one can and can't do."

"Just…just don't push yourself too much," Demyx advised weakly. "And don't cause trouble for Yuffie either."

"Hmm, she'd be a poor excuse of a ninja if she couldn't keep up with me." He suddenly launched himself over, bare feet firmly landing on the grey tiles of the roof below. Demyx and Larxene lurched over, eyes widening seeing their ryoushu just standing there, the moonlight illuminating his form. He glanced at them once, a thin half smile appearing on his lips before he dashed off soundlessly, the sleeves of his kinagashi fluttering in the breeze like a pair of wings. The two kishi could only watch. Demyx sighed in exasperation.

"He's impossible…"

"Totally," Larxene agreed, just about vexed as the other was about their ryoushu's seemingly carefree manner. "Utterly impossible. I don't know if I like him better when he's an adult or when he's a little brat."

"Hmm." The water god's chin rested against the back of his hands, leaning against the railing lazily. "But you know, both sides of him have their own kind of appeal to them."

"That's only because we've known him for so long," Larxene chuckled, a small preview of what a full blown cackle was like. "Anyone else would find it hard to get along with him."

* * *

Once again, Cloud found himself bored out of his mind, staring out to the grand landscape of Arashi no Rakuen. He wondered vaguely if, since there other realms and not just the one he was born into, if this haven's moon was always full for this was the third night in a row with no signs of it waning at all. If that was true though, that really was a testament to the gods' powers. Or more likely, this boy god he found himself acting as an attendant to. This then led onto his own boyhood imaginations, and how he had wondered what the world would be like if things were different from what was considered the norm. What would his world be like if it was perpetually summer? What if there was no such thing as a moonless night? What if the animals really could speak? What if the ghouls and goblins he had often been fearful of when stories of them were being told were actually real? What if the clouds started raining sweet treats instead of rain? What if…

There were just so many incredible imaginings Cloud could come up with from his childhood memories but here the vast majority of them had come to life. It was almost like… "What a child thinks heaven is like," he murmured, smiling dryly to himself. It didn't seem fair that such a child could create this world and make it real while he was forced to put those childish dreams aside and continue the daily struggle to survive. He wondered if his parents before -his mother who had died when he was sixteen, and the father he never knew- had such dreams too.

He guessed every child had them before they grew up. He rubbed at his eye, getting rid of any tiredness he was feeling. He was already starting to miss his home and the day-to-day monotony. "This is stupid… they already killed me. To ask to go back now would be stupid… they'd kill me again to be extra sure once they realise I'm not some footless ghost…" And yet he continued to long for it hopelessly despite all that. If he could spend one more night in that humble little hut of his… just one more night. He had a feeling such a wish would never be granted, just like when he prayed to the gods to let his mother live through just one more night, listening for that odd verse she always chanted every night as an indication that she was still among the living.

When he didn't hear it one night, he knew for sure that she was dead. Even so though, he found himself chanting it when he felt particularly lonely. This was one of those times.

"_Natsu tsuzuku dake no you ni koware yasui hana,  
__Nanji no karada wa, kuzure shi nakere ba nara nai ore to kare te…_"

* * *

It came as a surprise to him when he heard it, those words having been hard to forget in the thousands of years that they had cursed him. Although spoken in human language and for many of the creatures it was impossible to decipher, the kishi could understand what it was saying, but unable to grasp its meaning. He however, ancient as he was, knew exactly what the meaning was.

The curse itself held a solution to cure it. Damn Xemnas for making him unable to speak of it.

"_Arashi wa sore o hakai shi nakare ba nara nai,  
__Heiwa wa ken no ai ga mugen no saikuru no nokori…_" the speaker continued. A clear male voice. He looked up, seeing the blond human he had saved from drowning only a few days ago. So it was no joke. If he knew this verse, then he really was the one intended to break the curse it left on him. Using the inhuman abilities he was born with, he launched himself up balconies till he finally reached the floor the human Cloud was on.

He was still speaking even as he ascended up to him: "_Kireme no nai made koushin shi te–_"

"_Hanasa re te saigo no mono de aru toki_," he finished, balancing on his haunches on the railing, next to the human. Cloud turned, eyes widening in surprise at his surprise visitor. He just stared back, vaguely wondering if the human would guess his identity despite the massive change he had gone through. "How do you know that verse?"

"Who…Who are you?" the human demanded, standing up suddenly as if preparing to fight or flee.

So he didn't see. He now pondered over telling the truth or not. He jumped; Cloud flinched. But he hadn't made a move any closer to the blond. Telling him that he was the god he was introduced to when he was still in a childlike form would only serve to confuse the poor boy. "I'm Leon," he introduced himself, it being the first name that sprang to mind. "I live here."

"Oh…" the blond still seemed suspicious, eyeing him up cautiously. "Are you a servant?"

"Yes." He didn't know why he just agreed to it, but it appeared that the human was jumping to his own assumptions. On the one hand, this could work in his favour. On the other, it could explode in his face. However, he saw no harm in playing along with this.

"A seishin?"

"No. Just a koukennin," he lied. "I patrol at night sometimes."

"That doesn't answer my question though. You're either human or not to me. You could be an oni for all I know."

"Wouldn't you like to know," he muttered darkly, trying his hardest not to laugh even the slightest bit sardonically.

"Then what are you?" The human was frowning, looking at him in contempt.

"Tell me how you know of that verse," he countered, giving him a perfectly even look. "Then I'll tell you."

"Why do you want to know so badly?"

"Because I just do."

Cloud just glared at him; he could see it in his blue eyes that a certain amount of ire was flaring up in frustration. "It's just something my mother used to recite every night when she was alive. That's all. Now what are you?"

A human woman knew of his curse? That didn't sound right at all in his mind. Humans were totally ignorant of what the gods were like, having only made up stories of both their munificent and cruel natures. Unless…

Could he really be...? The resemblance truly was uncanny to the father, and the personality was almost just as similar to the mother, but could she really have been… He hopped back onto the railing. "Hey! You haven't answered my question!" Cloud exclaimed. But the brunet took no notice of him. "Hey!" He jumped off, landing on the roof below. The human leaned over, glaring at him. "Answer me!"

"…I'll leave you guessing for now. You have a name. That's more than enough." And with that, he disappeared into the night, the moonlight dimly illuminating his path. There were new questions to be answered, and quickly.


	3. Miiban no Monogatari

**A/N:** Hey everyone. Guess who's back from the dead for a shortwhile? Things have been just that tiny bit more hectic than usual (so slower updates... joy...) But I hope you enjoy the next installments of both AnR and EvAft. I love you all and I really appreciate the comments you have left for me in the last updates of both stories. Please enjoy and review. For reviews are my iced milk teas~

* * *

After that brief meeting with the mysterious man called Leon, Cloud had found himself just that little bit curious about just who and what he was. In the days that followed, Cloud had just about met every sort of creature imaginable living in this sacred haven, from the green Aaimuzxi (or Cactaurs Sora affectionately called the plant-like beasts) to the two Zanki that protected the storm god's giant urn of tempests. Constantly by his side were Riku and Sora, and from time to time Paine would tag along to quell whatever boredom she felt. Even so, Cloud never asked or even mentioned Leon to any of them. He wasn't sure if he should.

Today, Cloud found himself playing shogi with Riku, listening to the yoake no seishin trilling like the songbirds that heralded the dawn. Below them, in one of the many water gardens, ningyo happily played with a round white ball, screeching in glee every time their beautiful fish-like tails struck it into the air. It all seemed so peaceful.

And yet it also became so dull so quickly.

"Your turn," Riku stated, leaning back onto his hands. Cloud sighed. Riku was winning. He didn't know why he agreed to playing shogi when he was so bad at it.

"Can I ask you something?" he asked, moving one of his pieces into any random space he could move it to legitimately.

"Feel free."

"Do you know anyone called Leon?"

Riku paused just as he was about to place his game piece down, hesitating for a moment before placing his pawn back and moving his rook into the promotion zone, flipping the piece over to reveal red characters symbolising its promotion. "I don't." Cloud didn't believe him for a second.

"I thought you might have."

"There are thousands living here Cloud. I can't possibly know everyone."

"He claimed he was a koukennin." He moved his knight, capturing a pawn in the process.

"Did he state whose?"

"Well no… but there can't be that many koukennin here," Cloud reasoned. "I've never met any of Squall's."

"Um, you really should refer to him as Lord Squall."

"He's not my lord." They both yelped in surprise as suddenly the ball that the ningyo had been playing with landed on their game board, scattering the pieces everywhere as well as soaking the wooden board. Cloud had been more shocked by the event, but Riku was fuming. Sora was shaking because the ball had literally clipped his nose as it whizzed past.

"You bubble-headed idiots!" he yelled over the banister, shaking his fist at them. "If you're going to play Blitzball, do it else where!"

"But this is the biggest water garden!" A ningyo with fly-away blond hair, sun-kissed skin and azure eyes called back. "It's the best place to play!" His companion, a taller looking ningyo with dark eyes, bright ginger hair that curled up like a wave and a blue and green bandana wrapped around his forehead, nodded his head in agreement.

"That isn't an excuse Tidus!" Riku shouted back. "You could have hurt one of us!"

Cloud could only blink, very slowly standing up and picking the sodden ball, taking it over to the balcony and throwing the ball back. The orange-haired ningyo caught it easily. Riku frowned at him, "You're only encouraging them."

"They should have their fun," Cloud reasoned, waving off the pairs' thanks as he watched them continue their game. "Just their idea of fun is a bit livelier than what you think is entertaining."

"Cloud, you're far too accommodating for your own good," Riku stated.

"Is that really a bad thing?"

"Wouldn't hurt if you acted a bit more contrary from time to time."

That was the thing though. Cloud didn't know how to be contrary. His whole life in the mortal realm had been spent helping his mother as well as trying to fit in with the rest of the village, his wish of wanting to fade into the background rather than stand out in the crowd controlling everything he did and said. Sadly, his clearly unearthly appearance to the villagers had made his goal very out of reach. No matter how helpful he was, no matter how pleasant he behaved, no matter how far back he bent for anyone, he was always at a distance from everyone else. It wasn't any easier for his mother either for she too had been shunned by the village, rumoured as a witch, and looked down upon because she was raising a child all alone. But she never complained, always optimistic that the next day would bring good news.

He supposed that her good nature and sanguinity rubbed off on him growing up, only for it to dull when he had to bury and mourn over her remains alone. And now look where his cooperativeness had gotten him. "I can't help it."

"Well, here, even if you are just an attendant, stand up for yourself a bit more," Riku commented as he collected the game pieces. "That is to say, do follow orders but when you're with us, you can act a bit more stubborn."

"That's like asking a tiger to change its stripes for spots," Cloud chuckled dryly, helping the silver-haired seishin.

"Changing the subject, if you see this Leon, report to Kisaragi. She's Lord Squall's koukennin so she'll know if he really is someone's koukennin or not."

"Huh…she's someone I haven't met yet."

"You'll like her. She was in the same position as you five hundred years ago." Cloud perked up at that, somewhat relieved that there was another that had gone through the same thing as him. He just wasn't too pleased that he was only learning of this now.

"Do you think she'd also know why Squall hasn't asked for me at all?"

"It's anyone's guess," Sora chirped, now fully recovered from the shock. "Besides, she's too busy trying to make sure the day when she thinks Lord Squall's really going to adhere to one of his threats doesn't happen to know what's really going through his head."

"She's a troublemaker?"

"No. She is _trouble_," Riku laughed. "But what can you expect from a convicted thief?"

"Hey! She said that she was framed!" Sora exclaimed.

"That doesn't mean she hasn't done it in the past."

"That doesn't change the fact that she was wrongly executed!"

"Executed?" Cloud asked, blinking lightly. "What do you mean by that?"

"…It's not our place to say," Riku answered after a short pause. "All I can say is that it was dark times in the mortal realm when she came to us."

"Huh…"

* * *

Up above them, a pair of storm-coloured eyes were watching the trio, as if trying to assess just what was going on. A cheek rested against a fleshy palm, the arm it was attached to pressing against the wood of the balcony.

"You seem lonely," his companion stated, suddenly leaning all her weight against the sturdy wood. His eyes only for a moment flicked over to meet her acidic vivid green ones. "Will you really just continue to distance yourself from him, even though you made such a fuss about saving him?"

"I don't believe in sacrificing needlessly for stupid reasons. What's wrong with saving one or two lives from Ankoku no Sekai?"

"That the same reasoning with Yuffie?" the minor goddess asked, a light smirk gracing his features. "Despite the fact she was being _executed_, not _sacrificed_?"

"She was wrongly accused of being a thief. Any monkey could see that."

"My my Lord Squall, I think there's more to it than you're letting on," Larxene cackled. "Especially since you're never too far away from the human or have someone keeping an eye on him for you."

"I just want to make sure he's comfortable, that's all," the storm god shrugged. If this curse had not disallowed him to speak the real reason as to why he saved Cloud, he would've spoken up ages ago.

"If that's the case," Larxene coolly began, inspecting her nails faux-coyly, "then surely making sure he actually acts as what you said he would be is a good starting point."

The brunet just hummed in annoyance, his eyes still looking upon the group that were once again arguing with the ningyo that had been taking a break from their work tending to the water gardens. He felt a tug at the corner of his lips, but stopped himself in surprise at the action.

"Ouu…? A smile?" Larxene asked, leaning over teasingly. "Has been a long time since we've last seen one from you."

"Don't get used to it," he dismissed, standing up. He looked up at the ceiling, knowing that just above him on the jutting slate roof was his koukennin. "Yuffie, keep a sharp eye on him. Make sure he isn't anywhere near my study."

"Understood," came the reply, soon followed by a flash of black and white dropping down and skipping from roof to wall. Said blur then stopped just above the group, sitting cross-legged and acting as if she were just sunning herself.

"So when are you going to say something about this to him?" Larxene asked. "You can't keep him in the dark forever."

"Why should a mere human know something as delicate as my curse?" he retorted, but his hand unconsciously slid up to where the mark was throbbing lightly.

"Cloud isn't a 'mere human'," Larxene stated shrewdly. "The fact that you spared him an afterlife in Lord Sephiroth's world speaks volumes." She stood up slowly. "Besides, he's bound to find out sooner or later. If it's not catching you during mid-transformation, it'll be some loudmouth."

"…This isn't something he should find out," he declared quietly. "He would never understand."

"Au contraire, my lord," Larxene smugly chuckled, speaking the language of a far away country in the mortal realm, "I think you need to give him a little more credit than that." She patted his head lightly. "On a final note, I'm glad you're taking my advice and limiting your full powers when they aren't needed. It might buy Zexion some more time with the whole breaking the curse shebang."

"I'm not exactly happy being a child for most of the time," the 'young' Squall grumbled, his lips curling into a childish frown. "But if it's going to delay the inevitable… then I guess I don't have much choice." Truth be told, it also meant he could work on figuring out just how the hell he was supposed go about this whole -he mentally shuddered- _accepting_ business with Cloud. If he really was what he believed him to be.

This may have been one of the only times Squall had wished so zealously that it had been Yuffie that was meant to break the curse. Dealing with her annoying little quirks for all eternity was a fate he far preferred than trying to get a human man come round to even like him.

"You'll be fine," Larxene snickered lightly. "At least you have some control over your transformations. I've cursed worse people into transforming into hideous jorōgumo or lesser tengu with no hope of ever returning to normal."

"Then be useful and break this curse on me then!" Squall snapped irritably.

"You know as well as I do that I can't break or reverse a curse that wasn't cast by me," the lightning goddess pointed out. "So don't get snippy with me, sunshine."

"That's no way to talk to me."

"My lord, when you're pocket-sized like now, it's pretty hard to take you seriously." She smiled in that strangely smarmy way of hers. "Not so much doubting your power, but more to do with your physical appearance." She pinched his cheeks, earning an irritated grumble from him; he had grown used to all the coddling he got from the kishi ranked gods when he was in his childlike form.

"Go'way," he snarled, shrugging the lesser goddess off. "Do something useful."

"Gladly." She turned on her heel. "I feel like making a few more raijū anyway."

"Not too many Larxene," Squall warned. "I don't want to hear reports of some rogue raijū terrorising the humans."

"Oh please, have a little more faith. My little darlings wouldn't hurt a fly!"

* * *

Once more, Cloud found himself wandering around the many palaces in Arashi no Rakuen, only this time accompanied by Paine. Maybe it was the fact that they seemed to hold some grudging mutual respect for each other, or maybe it was because in their rather dysfunctional relationship they somehow miraculously updated to friends from acquaintances. Either way, Paine was sitting on his shoulder silently, at times talking about places of interest they stumbled upon on their walk around the old palaces.

"Paine," Cloud started, disturbing one of their many comfortable silences.

"Hmm?" the sprite hummed lightly.

"Is there something I should know about Squall?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like… I don't know, like he's really a pint-sized tyrant who summons oni to torment the human he on the rare occasion seemingly spares death."

"I wouldn't go that far," Paine droned. "But the pint-sized tyrant was very aptly put."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." She leaned back slightly. "Seriously though, why do you ask?"

"I just get the feeling there's something everyone knows that I don't." He sighed, looking up at the overgrown leafy canopy of one of the old unkempt gardens. "I mean, why am I really here? It can't be just as an attendant because I hardly ever see Squall, and the fact that I'm a man throws out a lot of other explanations. Am I just here on the basis of a whim? Or is there something more to it… something no one's telling me?"

Paine was silent for a long while…and then, "Well, since you're asking… and you're the next closest person to me after Lord Squall and Rikku or Yuna when either of them are here…" He looked to his shoulder, blue eyes looking at the sprite with curiosity. "The last two humans saved by Lord Squall, it was more for companionship of the… um… romantic sorts that was the driving force. Well, I should say the first one _definitely_ was. The second, let's just say everyone couldn't have thought up a more unlikely couple."

"Miss Kisaragi is that much different?"

"Different is putting it mildly. Screaming total opposite that there is no way in even Ankoku no Sekai that there would ever be an attraction between them is a better way of describing it."

"Ah."

"Yeah." More silence.

"So even child gods fall in love huh…"

"Well, it's not my place to say really," Paine carefully worded her sentence. "But Lord Squall didn't decide to stay a child forever." She pushed herself off, flitting just a little bit ahead of Cloud and turning to face him. "He may have the body of a boy, but he has the mindset of a man. He hates being trapped in that form, when he knows he's capable of so much more."

"Wait, so his growth…was stunted?"

"More like rewound," Paine admitted, turning away slowly. "Don't say anything to him, but when the first human was saved by him, Lord Squall had the form of a young man." Cloud blinked at that; now he wouldn't have imagined that. "What happened after that… well, that's confidential, and it's probably best you heard it from him."

"He'll never tell," Cloud muttered.

"Maybe he won't, but maybe he will. You just have to understand with him is that what happened to him in the past affected him so much so that he finds it hard to open up to anyone."

"So…I'm just attempt number three."

"Attempt number one if he's just looking for a friendship," Paine corrected. "But we won't rule out the romance."

"Excuse me?" Cloud asked, looking at Paine with appal.

"Well it's possible," Paine shrugged. "I mean, Axel and Roxas are as close as that and Demyx practically worships the ground Zexion stands on so it really isn't all that impossible."

"These gods are _fine_ with that kind of sodomy?-!"

"Yeah. And?" Paine looked over her shoulder. "What's the problem?"

"Back in my world we were told we'd be eating lightning bolts for breakfast if we even had a thought about our fellow man."

"Well you humans aren't exactly the _brightest_ bunch. Present company excluded of course."

"Of course," Cloud sighed. He was getting used to the sprite's slightly anti-human remarks. "So I'm guessing every moral instilled into my mind is null and void here too then."

"Just a few things. Stealing, you'll get bolted. Lying, you'll get bolted. Acting like a prick, you'll get bolted. Acting like you're higher than the gods, you'll get bolted. Murder, also bolted with a few other nasty things done to you. But other than that, the gods are pretty lenient."

"How…reassuring." But in his mind, he really couldn't get his head around the fact that so many of the things he had been taught were sins that the gods would punish him for were actually ignorable. So that time he hit one of the fisherman's sons in order to protect himself wasn't actually something he should have feared divine judgement like he had been told he ought to. That useless drunken priest…

"On the subject of the oni," Paine changed topic, "Master has no control over them."

"Huh?"

"He controls two Zanki which are kind of like oni except they aren't as evil. Oni are pretty… well, to put it bluntly, they're bad news."

"Bad news? What do you mean?"

"You humans are taught to fear oni for a reason. They eat hearts," Paine explained. "And the more powerful the heart is, the tastier it is to them."

"Let me guess, an oni would be at the top of the mythical food chain."

"It's more like dragons, but yeah, oni are vicious. I'm a snack, and you'd be a proper meal in their eyes. A ryoushu like Master would be seen as a huge dinner if he was vulnerable."

"Right…" Guess his view on the mystical side to their world really was as off as he had thought. Gods that could be killed, oni that ate hearts, a non-existent strict moral conduct and a child terrorising everything in the human world. His initial beliefs really were far away from what the truth was.

"Did something happen?" Paine questioned, red eyes looking at him quizzically.

"Kinda."

"What?"

"Do you happen to know anyone called…Leon?"

Paine, much like Riku, paused for a moment, and then replied, "Not that I can recall." Liar, Cloud had thought but he kept silent. "Did someone approach you?"

"Yeah," Cloud nodded. "He was just standing right in front of me one minute and then the next he's gone. He only told me who he was, and not so much what he was though he claimed to be a koukennin."

"I can assure you that there's no such person," Paine dismissed. "If he was a koukennin of Master's, I'd know about it. So would Kisaragi and-" She covered her mouth suddenly. Cloud looked at her curiously.

"Paine?"

"Sorry, that's something you shouldn't know about."

"More secrets then," Cloud sighed.

"Sorry. That's what it has to-" Whatever Paine had said next Cloud hadn't heard. His eyes were drawn to a long walkway that was leading to a bare, practically arid garden. Ignoring the sprite, the blond started walking towards it, feeling like there was something there, something watching him. "Hey! Cloud! Where are you going?-!" He stopped when there was no more wooden walkway, but just a long stretch of small white stones in front of him. Despite its desolate appearance, it appeared to well taken care of, each large black stone placed as if to evoke some sort of loneliness from the viewer. He heard Paine's wings flutter furiously in his ear. "We shouldn't _be here_! Come on!" Again he ignored her, opting to sit. There was something in his mind that was telling him to stand in this garden would only earn him trouble later on.

"I thought no one lived in these old places anymore," Cloud whispered.

"No one does."

"And yet this place looks well taken care of." Paine didn't retort some hurried answer, settling down on his shoulder instead. From the corner of his eye, he noticed there was something hanging on top of a black stone that he would never have seen in the whole picture.

It looked like a white robe, with the golden outline of feathers and cranes patterned on its shiny fabric. A flash of red silk was along the neckline of the robe like the red blaze on top of a male crane's head. There was something so elegant about the robe, that Cloud wanted to look at it, inspect it, understand why such a fine piece of clothing was just lying around here. He stood, walking along the wooden step right to the very end. Paine suddenly screeched: "Cloud! Wait!"

He was about to step off.

"If you value your freedom, you won't step off," a new voice warned. Cloud halted, looking up. There was a young man -or maybe it wasn't a man, or not even young- standing just a small distance away from where he was. He only wore black hakama which sat snugly above his hips, geta and tabi coloured black and grey on his feet. That was not what struck the human though. It was the man's physical appearance; although his hair was slicked back and there was a scar that was much like Squall's only going the opposite way, the colouring was exactly the same as him; blond, blue-eyed and pale, though this man had a sandy tan from working under the sun for long periods of time.

"Wh- Who are you?" Cloud asked. He backed away a step when the man got closer.

"I guess you could say I'm a prisoner here," the man replied, picking up the robe and sliding it over his shoulders. There was something surprisingly refined about it despite the man's rugged appearance and speech. "Or you could say I'm a caged bird. Your call."

"Don't speak in riddles. I'm tired of it," Cloud replied brusquely. "Tell me your name and whether you're human or some sort of creature. That has more meaning for me."

The man smirked lightly, almost as if the human's words had reignited a nostalgic memory. "Since you specified…" He walked closer to the step, but he stopped just a foot span away. "My name is Seifer of the Almasy Clan, and I am a tenshi."

Cloud blinked. He heard tenshi's were beautiful creatures, those who were of the sky but sometimes chose to tread the earth in order to protect all of the Souzou Shin's creations, and this man appeared to fit the trend only… his hagoromo…

"Like the look of my hagoromo?" Seifer asked suddenly. Cloud looked away, startled. Was it obvious that he had been looking?

"Um, I thought male tenshi didn't own hagoromos…"

"I'm one of the rare ones who do. It doesn't really shine in the same way as a woman's in this world, but in your world… it truly does one step better than any woman's hagoromo."

"That's quite the claim considering where you are now," Cloud retorted carelessly, but he didn't quite look remorseful for saying it. The tenshi just smirked lightly.

"Good to see that you haven't lost spirit then…"

"Huh?"

"Nothing." He turned to walk away. "Feel free to come here to talk. I'm not going anywhere." As he walked towards the sole sakura tree, Cloud just watched, Seifer's words resonating within him like a lone bell. It felt like Seifer knew him from somewhere before, somewhere long ago. But he knew that wasn't so.

He never met anyone like Seifer while he was alive in the human world.

He didn't hear what Paine said, but he walked away from that place, a small niggling annoyance in his mind. Why was it that the more he dug for answers, the more questions he found instead?

* * *

Rain started falling in Arashi no Rakuen, small tear drops dotting the leaves, the blooms, the rocks and ornaments of all the gardens, dripping from the edge of roofs and crawling down the pillars. The Hi no Kami, Axel, hated such weather. It reminded him so much of a certain day that was forever etched into his mind.

"You're looking sad again Axel," Roxas commented. The Taiyou Shin, the youngest of all the kishi, was smiling in that same way his element did. If he smiled anymore a rainbow would surely be born in all this rain. "You aren't remembering that day again, are you?"

The fire god grimaced. Looking back at the young god, he couldn't help but be reminded that this sun god was not the one he was close to at first.

Or the one he fell in love with.

He looked away again. Roxas sighed, falling to his knees next to the elder god. "You know, it's not like I remember anything from back then. I only know about it because you practically broke down crying five hun-"

"Finish that sentence and I'll burn your clothes off," Axel muttered, still not looking at him. The little sun god could only chuckle dryly.

"Despite the element you have control over, you really are cold when you want to be." The fire god only snorted, looking out into the rained on garden. He barely made a move when he felt a pair of thin arms wrap around his waist, a head of blond hair press against his shoulder. "Why can't you just be your usual self when it's raining… why do you have to be this cold?"

Axel didn't answer and he didn't look. Because if he did, he would only be reminded further of the one he had lost because of his recklessness. Roxas asked why he was like this; he wished he could ask Roxas why he had to die in the first place.

* * *

"There you are!" the childish voice yelled. Cloud, soaked to the bone and hair practically falling flat on his head, blinked lightly as he stepped into his chambers to change. The child storm god was sitting on one of the lacquer furniture with a neat little frown on his face.

"You were waiting for me?"

"Of course I was!" He stood up. "You never got a chance to be told what your duties were." His footfalls were light, almost soundless. Despite having the body of a child, the god seemed to despair of the human. "Get out of those clothes. You're not immune to illness."

"Then kindly remove yourself from my room," Cloud pointed out. "I'm not changing if someone else is here."

"We're both boys."

"Out!" Cloud yelled. The boy-god didn't even bat an eyelid, just looking at him in mild amusement. The human frowned with annoyance, before sighing in frustration, "Just don't look, alright. I'm not comfortable with the idea of a kid looking at me."

The little god said nothing, but he complied with the request, turning so that his back was facing Cloud. The blond proceeded with taking the haori he had on off his form, before starting to untie the kimono tied over his hakama. "Basically, rather than just twiddling your thumbs together like a fool, your main duty is to just answer to every order or demand I make from you, no matter how impossible it seems."

"So like any other servant," Cloud commented.

"Maybe, but there'll be things I'll ask from you that they can't do," Squall replied. It was silent for a moment, before he replied, "Like… well, helping me from time to time…"

Now in just his nagajuben, Cloud looked over his shoulder. Squall's shoulders seemed to be hunched, as if embarrassed to be saying that he might need help. Even if he acted mature for his age, he really was just a child. He smiled quietly, walking over to him. "Thank you."

"Why are you thanking me?"

"Because you finally told me what on earth I'm supposed to do here." Squall looked over slowly, a storm-grey eye glimmering lightly in confusion. "I had no idea what I was supposed to do when I got here. I didn't even expect to even be taken here. I honestly thought I was going to die when I was sacrificed to you. Now that I know, I can finally make myself useful."

The little god turned, tilting his head to the side. His brown hair fell over his shoulder, his expression was blank. "You really are that simplistic, aren't you?"

"Is that a backhanded compliment?"

"…No," but the little god's face creaked into a smile. "It's refreshing." He turned around. "You start work tomorrow morning. Get rested."

"Alright," he nodded, waiting for the god to disappear behind the shoji door. He then sighed, shaking off the soggy nagajuben to change it for a fresh one to sleep in. But still, his mind was still reeling with questions.

Who was this Leon that no one seemed to know but at the same time seem reluctant to talk about him? Why was Seifer imprisoned in the old palaces away from the rest of the world? And was there a connection between them both? He tired the obi belt tightly as his frustration with this place mounted. "This place has too many secrets…"

* * *

It was just as the sun began to set, he felt it was fine for him to transform. Cloud was in his chambers so he wouldn't see him, and the kinagashi he was wearing would be long enough to cover him modestly when he matured. There was nothing to stop him. Ignoring the small pain in his chest that signified his progression into adulthood, the boy's steps grew heavier, the tall walls seemed to shrink before him, his muscles plumped into lean, strong limbs and his hair grew longer and shaggier. He ran a large hand through his coarse hair, grey eyes vaguely staring to the side at a scene of some female seishin working with ningyo women at the washing, oblivious to the magic that had happened just a floor above them.

There were some who were all excited at the prospect of a new 'bride' in the palace. Their shock at finding out the so-called bride was actually a man was short-lived, though there still many who seemed to question just what purpose the human had in this haven. Even some of the gods were beginning to think this would just be yet another waste of time and space until the human was put to work.

In reality, the storm god was a little hesitant at the prospect of possibly wooing a man. That was the main reason he distanced himself so much from the blond until just moments ago. With Yuffie having reported to him that Cloud had stumbled upon Seifer, and knowing that the tenshi would speak the truth of the whole predicament both of them found themselves in if the human had the thought to ask him, the god realised that time was of the essence. The less time Cloud had to talk to the imprisoned tenshi, the more time he had to go about trying to break the curse by using the human as a tool.

Besides, he had thought, once the curse was broken, he could send Cloud back home or to wherever he wished. He knew that the human was missing home despite what the villagers had done to him. In his mind it was a win-win situation. Nothing could possibly go wrong. With this in mind, he steeled himself for the worst of it and broke into a soundless run, jumping on the first bit of roof that caught his eye before ascending them to the top where he would make his way down to Cloud's chambers. As long as he made himself as unsuspicious to the blond as possible, he would never catch on that the child Squall and the adult 'Leon' were one in the same.

* * *

The moon was full tonight, as it always had been. And as its warm glow illuminated the palace, Cloud couldn't help but wonder if such a moon was shining down on his village. Did the rains stop at last? Or were they now cursing his name for being unable to persuade the storm god to cease the torrential typhoon? He didn't really care though, for there was nothing left for him at home. His old home would have been plundered or burnt to the ground for sure by now regardless of whether his sacrifice worked or not and everyone would be carrying on, not even thinking about him. No one would miss him. No one would mourn him.

It was sad to think that he never realised how alone in the world he was until he had been forced to die for his village. If only he had been a bit more stubborn, maybe he'd still be alive; but then again, the village would have only slit his throat.

Maybe Paine was right to have such negative feelings towards humans. Even he was beginning to loathe them.

"This a bad time?"

Cloud jumped, looking around wildly for the familiar voice. The voice he had not been able to forget. "Leon?"

"Down here."

He looked down. Lo and behold, the very personification of mystery was standing on the lower floor's roof, standing calmly and with his hands buried deep within his fluttering sleeves. How it all looked seemed reminiscent of some sort of romantic scene in a love poem, with Leon as the persisting wooer and Cloud the object of his affections.

The blond almost panicked at the image that was brought up in his mind. "What do you want?"

"A little bird told me you've been asking around about me," Leon replied, his face still perfectly straight. "Thought you'd want to talk."

"Promise you're not going to go running off mid-conversation?" Cloud demanded.

To this, Leon just sighed. "Alright. I promise."

"Then get up here. I'm not going to shout down to you like this." And he wasn't going to state his exact reasons why he wasn't going to go along with that. The supposed koukennin shrugged, but launched himself like a cat up to his balcony window, sitting along the edge as if he were comfortable with the surroundings. "So tell me just who the hell are you? And no skirting around the question."

"My, you're demanding."

"I'm getting sick of all the vagueness. I want proper answers this time." A dry, quiet chuckle echoed in the room, as if amused by the human's impudence. "Don't mock me."

"I wasn't. I just hadn't expected you to have such a spirit for a human who was abandoned by his own." Cloud grimaced at that, his hands balling up into fists. "Where would you like me to start?"

"Starting out just what you are would be a good place."

Leon answered simply with a poker face: "I'm a koukennin, just as I said. A hotoke would be what creature I am; not many would know I even exist because of the nature of my existence."

"Why hide yourself?"

"A shadow unable to attack his enemy from the darkness isn't a shadow at all," Leon replied as if explaining to a schoolchild why pets had to die.

"Then why show yourself to me?"

"You intrigue me," was the honest answer. "A human sacrificed as if he were a named divine bride, with no obvious use since he is male, and yet still he lives."

That had struck a nerve in Cloud's body. If there was one thing he hated most in the world, it was being called useless. "I am going to be useful to the Arashi no Kami," he stated firmly. "Even if it's only meagre serving work, even if it's only being his caretaker, it means I'm useful."

"How about dying for his sake, should he ever need someone to protect him?" Leon rather cruelly asked. His face was still expressionless, not matching the malice in his words. "There are many who would run away and forget about him to save their own lives, and there are those brave few who would risk everything to protect him. Which side do you belong to, human?"

"…I'm not afraid of dying," Cloud answered softly. "I've died once before. And I have nothing left to lose anymore. So maybe I'm probably the most useful meat shield he has." He hoped his face didn't look so pathetic to the shadow creature, because he didn't think he could keep calm if he was insulted for it by this irritating person.

"You throw away your life too easily," Leon said after a long pause of silence, standing up slowly. "I was wrong about you. A man who's willing to die so easily because he has nothing left isn't strong at all." He turned to go.

"Don't act like you know humans oh-so-well!" Cloud yelled at him. "Maybe it's different for you, and maybe I was wrong for not putting up a fight when I was alive, but having the bravery to face whatever was thrown at you is far better than running around praying there's a way to get away from it!" Leon stopped in his tracks, as if something in him had just been struck, but Cloud still continued. "Having the strength to accept your fate no matter how awful it is is truly brave…"

"Maybe…" Leon whispered, putting a bare foot along the railing. He then made a small amused rumble from his throat. "You really are something else. The first two humans who came here moped for days, yet you're the one who probably had the cruellest betrayal of them all."

Cloud blinked lightly. He wasn't sure what to make of that; surely being executed was far crueller than being sacrificed, and he had no idea how Miss Kisaragi's predecessor came to Arashi no Rakuen because no one would speak of her. Then he realised… maybe Leon would tell him. "One last question."

"Hmm?"

"The first human who came here…who was she, and why did Squall save her?"

Leon looked over his shoulder, one glittering grey eye assessing whether or not he should speak of her or not to the blond. He then turned his body around to face him. "You really want to know?" Cloud nodded his head firmly. Leon closed his eyes, as if mentally preparing himself for something that would hurt, before opening his eyes again and looking straight into the blue eyes of Cloud.

"The first human who came here drowned while being tried as a witch in her village. That's why Squall saved her."

Cloud's eyes widened at that. "Then why are you saying my 'betrayal' was far crueller than that?-!"

"All three of you humans may have been picked to suffer horrific drownings, but you were the one that was 'justifiable' and had a 'purpose'. The other two was punishment." Leon turned around, readying himself to jump. "I think it's crueller to be killed for a reason everyone think is divine than to die because it is a punishment." And with that, he dropped down from Cloud's window. The human sped over to the balcony, looking over and seeing the hotoke fall. The brunet twisted his body gracefully around in midair like a cat, landing on his feet without a single sound. Cloud mentally scolded himself for worrying; this man said so himself he wasn't human, thus it wouldn't be odd for him to have some sort of inhuman abilities to his name.

Leon looked up for a moment and for the briefest of moments, Cloud thought he saw the brunet's lip quirk up into a sidelong smile. He then broke into a run, disappearing into the darkness. He just watched where he had been, wondering if he would ever see the enigma that was Leon again.

"Ah!" Cloud gasped, his eyes widening in remembrance. Leon hadn't told him that woman's name. He narrowed his eyes in annoyance. Even more questions. "I'm starting to hate this place…"

But at the same time, he found himself also enjoying playing the part of detective in this mysterious world of gods, spirits and mythical beasts.

* * *

In the shadow of the moon, deep within the Hanging Gardens, the supposed hotoke koukennin transformed once more back into the boy god of storms, kinagashi flapping loosely around his shrinking frame. His eyes were fixated on the moon the entire time, thinking back to that meeting with Cloud.

Cloud certainly was the son. He had her drive and her strength of character, but also the father's will to survive and his appearance. It was just so hard to believe that the pair that had caused them all such strife produced the offspring that could -possibly- break the curse placed upon them all. But then he remembered something Cloud had said to him.

He had nothing to lose. Did that mean he had lost everything before he was forced to die for that village's sake? Did that mean she was no longer among the living, but now amongst the dead resting in Sephiroth's domain? If that was true… then that meant the curse had taken its first victim, uncaring of the child it had left behind. His hands clenched into fists.

And those humans blindly thought that their creator was a kind and benevolent ruler. He most certainly was not.

"Lord Squall?" He stiffened at the sound of the Mizu no Kami's voice. "Are you alright?" Soft footfalls fell onto the stone pathway, stopping only a foot away from the little god. "Axel hasn't been teasing you again has he?"

"…She's dead."

A sharp intake of breath. "Are you sure?"

"I'm almost convinced," Squall responded, turning slowly. Although his eyes were looking watery, he refused to show just how much it had hurt him. "But I don't want to hear it from Sephiroth. I can almost imagine how much he'd start gloating about it."

"…Do you think Seifer should know about this?" Demyx tentatively asked.

"He doesn't need to know," Squall snapped, looking away from the water god at that. "He doesn't deserve it."

"He _does_ deserve to know. You _know_ how he felt about her."

"It's because of _him_ we're in this mess to begin with!" Squall walked past the water god. "If he just kept his feelings to himself and said nothing, she'd still be alive and we wouldn't be cursed."

Demyx kept his silence, knowing that once the child god went into one of his tirades, it would be difficult to have a decent conversation with him let alone a debate. Not to mention, the subject of how he along with the other two became cursed was still a very raw subject for everyone. The consequences of what had happened after were brutal, much too brutal, and the cracks in their godly foundation were still showing.

"…Tidus," Demyx murmured. The sound of water being disturbed in the pool below the hanging edge of the garden echoed in the still air. The little storm god was long gone.

"Lord Demyx?" the ningyo questioned, his blond hair sticking to his face. The water god turned to his watery vassal.

"Go to Yazushi. Tell the Kage no Kami that there's a possibility that Lady Rinoa's curse has taken her life." Tidus nodded at his master's command, taking a breath and disappearing under the shimmering surface. Demyx looked up at the moonlit sky, for a moment wanting to curse the place.

The moon was Souzou no Kooto, the court of the creator. Because of his heartlessness, dear friends were dead. Because of his hatred for human weaknesses found in all things, their once peaceful existence had been shattered like a mirror, pieces still missing from the conflict that followed the storm god's affliction.


	4. Yoban no Monogatari

**A/N**: Hey you guys:) I finally finished this chapter for your enjoyment, which includes an appearance of a certain foulmouthed lancer (at long last too; I've never really felt like I've done Cid much justice). You know the deal; its slow, answers some questions but only leads onto more of them, but I did try to end the chapter on a nice note. Hope you all enjoy it! Please read and review, for reviews are my millionaire's shortbread~

On a sidenote, NaNoWriMo is going ok, but I'm pandering over whether or not to post the chapters on my livejournal account for the world to read... What do you guys think?

* * *

It felt like it had been so long since he first washed up on Arashi no Rakuen's shore, and yet the only means of knowing time had passed was the transition from day to night occurred. In the time that had passed, Cloud's responsibilities began to increase.

It started off with small tasks, such as making sure the little storm god had something new to wear -a challenge in itself since the little god's wardrobe seemed to only consist of dark clothing that were nearly all similar to each other- every day and ensuring he was getting his meals, to along the way being ordered to accompany the boy when he did take the rare break from his seemingly endless amount of work, from answering prayers from the human world to having audiences with the creatures and spirits he governed. Cloud found that he enjoyed those moments though, more for the fact that the boy god always went to a new garden then for the company. Even so, something bothered him.

Although he was in the body of a child despite his great age, and although Paine had told him that once upon a time the young Squall had the form of an adult man, Cloud had expected the little god to at least play, even if it was just shogi (which he was getting better at thanks to constant matches with Riku). In the times that he had been allowed into Squall's chambers, the human had never seen even a ball just lying around. It made him wonder.

Today, Squall had decided to walk though one of the many water gardens in his palace, the one they visited being called the Dragon Garden, so called because it was nesting place for a number of small, coiling azure dragons that skimmed across the surfaces of the many ponds and streams. They watched as the small creatures danced above the surface, their shimmering blue scales reflecting the strong sunlight like the turquoise and azurite gems in a noblewoman's kanzashi.

"So…have you settled in?" the child god asked, though Cloud could detect a sense of hesitancy in his voice.

"Yes," he responded, looking over to him. "I like it here." He only said it to appease the god; more than anything, he was beginning to feel a little homesick. The surroundings were lavish, and he really had a want for nothing since he was placed so highly among the ranks of the servants and attendants, but more than anything he just wanted to go back to that small hut of his.

"…would you stay here forever?"

"It's not like I can go back."

"But if you could, would you go back?" Squall asked. His gaze had not even turned to face the blond. Cloud wondered just where this conversation was going.

"I won't lie that I feel homesick," Cloud admitted. "But I can't go back, even if there was a way."

"You're still not answering my question," Squall frowned. "It's not a matter of what you can and can't do. It's a matter of _if_ you want to or not."

"What do you want me to say?" he asked, perplexed by how the little god seemed to see right through his vague answers.

"I want you to be honest with me." The child god stood up and stared at him with those piercing storm-coloured eyes of his. "I can't stand liars."

Their eyes met, and for a long moment Cloud wondered if that glimmer he saw in the other's eyes that seemed so sad and lonely was even real. The fact that the other hated dishonesty just like he did made him question whether hiding the truth was a wise course of action, especially if one were to consider the fact that inside that tiny body was enough power to kill a mortal man in one go. He looked away. "If I had the choice, if there was a chance that I could go back, then I'd take it." Silence. "It's not that I don't appreciate all that has been done for my sake… but home is where the heart is, and my home is there. In the mortal realm."

"…I understand." Cloud looked up at that; Squall's face was completely straight. "It will take some time, but if you need anything to make you feel comfortable, don't be afraid to say something."

"You make it sound like I'm more of a guest than a new servant."

"If a servant feels distressed, they won't apply their best effort," the little god frowned, looking away. There was a small sense of bashfulness coming from the other. "So I try to make sure everyone's needs are catered for wherever possible."

Maybe he was wrong to think that the Arashi no Kami was just a little tyrant. "That's very kind of you."

"I'm not being kind," Squall retorted. "It's just common sense."

"Even so, it's more than what I expected from you," Cloud rather boldly stated.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Before Cloud had a chance to explain himself, Paine suddenly flitted into their line of vision. The storm god looked at the sprite with a stern look. "Report?"

"The Highwind is fast approaching," the messenger reported. "The plan is for it to dock within the Hanging Gardens so that they can let Bahamut go to pasture for a while."

"So long as Bahamut doesn't start disrupting the eco system like he did last time," the little god frowned. Cloud wondered what exactly this 'Bahamut' was. "So I'm guessing Cid's come over for one of his unorthodox 'father-son' chats."

"News travels fast after all Master," Paine answered. "Specially when it comes to humans being spared a lifetime in Lord Sephiroth's domain."

"Lord…Sephiroth?" Cloud whispered quietly. He almost jumped when he was answered.

"The Shi no Kami. He's the ruler of Ankoku no Sekai, and the leader of the shinigami."

"But I thought the shinigami were just individuals that would never be led."

"Not so," Paine replied. "The shinigami exist _because_ of him. He was the one that created them; he's the one that can easily destroy them."

"And since I'd intercepted the shinigami that was meant to collect your soul, you can only imagine the sort of gossip that's going around the other gods." Squall sighed, deflating a little. "No doubt about it that Cid's going to be demanding just what the hell I'm playing at."

"If it's so much of a bother, why did you save me?" Cloud asked, not attempting to hide the bitterness he felt in his heart.

"Because I felt like it," the little god retorted, before turning his attention back to his messenger. "How long until they dock then?"

"Rikku is saying two hours. Could be less then that."

"Have any seishin available to stand ready in the Hanging Garden. Cid's personnel will need all the help they can get with landing the Highwind and dealing with Bahamut."

"Understood," Paine nodded before flitting away hurriedly. When she was out of earshot, Cloud decided it was safe to ask.

"Bahamut is…?"

"It's the dragon that the Highwind depends on. If he doesn't help run it, it goes nowhere." The child god took a step away. "In a sense, Bahamut is the very heart of the Highwind."

"And Cid…?"

"He's the Sukai Shin." Squall than sighed. "And I guess you could say he's more of a fatherly figure than the Souzou Shin could ever hope to be." He began to walk away; Cloud scrambled to his feet, wondering if he had treaded onto thin ice.

* * *

Out of curiosity more than anything else, Cloud found himself leaving the child god's side and going to the Hanging Garden to see the Highwind land. From what he had been told from talking to his companions, the Highwind was a mechanical success that no human had ever hoped to create, combining both science and magic to grant it the power to fly through all the realms.

For Cloud, when he was alive in the human world, the most amazing thing that he ever saw in his life was a clockwork nightingale that sung when you wound the key implanted in its shiny copper back. That was back when he was a child; a travelling merchant had arrived in his village with his fortune teller mistress and their band of misfits, from the girl twins that were connected by the brain to the band of contortionists that could bend their bodies into impossible shapes. Cloud had loved them and even childishly declared that he would join their number, bringing his mother along. His mother just smiled and nodded, but she never allowed that dream to come true.

"Cloud, you here to see the Highwind land?" Cloud shook himself out of his thoughtful trance, looking to his side to see Sora had perched on the banister he was leaning on. They were on one of the many balcony areas in the garden which overlooked the chasm that the sea had chiselled away at for thousands of years. It was here that the Highwind would dock.

Cloud nodded his head to confirm Sora's question.

"You won't be disappointed," Sora smiled brightly.

Just as Cloud opened his mouth to say something, a gust of wind blew strongly through the chasm and the mechanical sound of gears creaking filled the air. They looked up and saw the ship that carried the Sukai Shin around the different realms.

The Highwind was reminiscent of the grand junks that carried nobles, merchants and tradable goods back in his world. With three tall masts, which pure white fin-like sails hung, towering high above, a steel-bottomed hull that held together a softwood body that could have housed thousands upon thousands of different creatures easily. On every side there was some sort of sail being used as a wing, each wing lifting up and down in a flapping motion as if it were some large bird of prey. Seeping from it from many different pipes and chimneys were great billowing clouds of smoke and steam, causing a thick fog of the smell of industry to descend upon the garden.

Cloud just gazed at the coarse looking contraption with wonderment, but he saw no dragon that was supposedly the power source. He had thought that it would be flying above the Highwind…

Chains were thrown across the chasm, being caught by the brave seishin that volunteered to help dock the machine and secured into the earth so that the Highwind would not fall down. Then came platforms from many doors that suddenly slid open, booming voices yelling orders to seishin and creatures of the skies that worked productively.

"Amazing huh," Sora grinned, his eyes shining with childlike wonder. "It's like a whole city flying through the sky!" Rendered speechless, Cloud could only nod his head in agreement.

The sound of creaking gears alerted everyone that the largest of the doors was opening, the tinny sound of a walkway being pushed out to the largest of the gardens' balconies echoing through the chasm. What came out of the Highwind now was an impressive creature; obsidian black scales attached to a long coiling body, iridescent wing flaps held together by both thin and thick bones, a cruelly shaped face with smoke curling slowly from it's mouth and nostrils and two grey horns crowning it, long muscular tail, red spines running along it's back and glowing red eyes, this was almost exactly how Cloud envisioned Bahamut to be. However, a creature that was meant to be so fearsome had been tamed by the man that was riding on its back, one long chain that was attached to a worn down iron collar in his hand. This man was blond, but wore only light grey hakama and a dark blue gi. On his head rested a pair of those 'goggles' the Hi no Kami wore from time to time and from his mouth hung a long tarnished silver pipe that was happily spewing wisps of smoke from it's end.

"That's Cid, the Sukai Shin," Sora explained, having assumed Cloud would have no idea who he was. The blond had already known in his mind that this was indeed the god in question but he said nothing.

This man was the one that Squall had identified as a paternal figure.

* * *

It had been ordered for him to try and limit his appearances in front of the Sukai Shin so not to raise questions, but that proved to be quite the task considering his natural curiosity and the nature of his given role in the Arashi no Kami's palace. It was when he was just about to open the door into one of the many small drawing rooms in the palace that Cloud understood why he was told to be so discreet.

"Y'mean to tell me that ya haven't said a goddamn word to Seph!" a brash, coarse voice exclaimed in despair.

"I don't see why I should have to report to Sephiroth about what I've done," the child god's voice calmly stated, sounding as if he had rehearsed everything he was going to say.

"Squall! Ya don't antagonize the god in charge of the cycle of life 'n' death!"

"I'm not antagonizing him. I don't see why he ought to know about one human being spared from his dogsbodies considering when he deals with about thousands every day."

"Don't ya remember the argument that happened after ya saved Rinoa _and_ Yuffie?-!"

Cloud paused at that. Rinoa? Was that the woman that the child god saved first? If that was so, why was everyone so reluctant to talk about her? How come he had never seen her himself?

"Don't mention that name," Squall muttered darkly. The sound of clothes rustling echoed in his ear. "It's in the past now."

"Is it really?" Cid asked. "I heard she died some time ago." The silence that followed that statement was deafening. Cloud opened the door slightly, so quiet that it wouldn't disturb a mouse let alone attract the attention of two gods.

Squall was standing at the open balcony, back turned and stiffened. The blond could see that the little god's hands had curled up into shaking fists, as if angered to be reminded of something so painful. The human couldn't help but feel sympathy for the child god; no one wanted to remember something that was so agonizingly sorrowful in such a harsh way. His eyes now averted to the older, coarser looking god that held the appearance of a weather-beaten mature man of forty years. The older one, hand running through his hair in exasperation and heavily smoking on his pipe, just sighed and shook his head.

"Sorry. But ya have to understand why I worry. Ya give out the feeling yer an absolute glutton for punishment sometimes."

"Trust me. I'm not."

"Then why do this a third time?"

"…that's none of your business."

"Squall, it is my business. Yer one of the three ryoushu that care for the mortal realm. If something happens to ya…"

"Nothing will happen to me," Squall snapped, glaring at the older man with his storm-coloured eyes. His expression changed slightly as his eyes glanced straight at the door. Cloud shuffled back quickly, guessing he wasn't meant to have heard this conversation.

"At least put Aerith's mind at rest," Cid said carefully. "She's worried that yer doin' too much."

"She's not my mother, so she doesn't have to worry." He started walking towards the door. "If you only came here to tell me that I'm doing everything wrong, I'm not in the mood."

"Hey! Squall!"

The door slid open suddenly, almost spooking the blond from his kneeling spot. He opened his mouth as if to say the reason he was kneeling there in the first place when he felt a small hand grab his arm and forcibly dragged him up to his feet. "Sq-Squall?"

"We're going," the little god grumbled. Soft-spoken as the boy was, Cloud could feel the death-like grip digging into his flesh. It wasn't a good time to ask the god what was going on; he didn't feel like getting his head chewed off and him having to just grin and bear with it.

* * *

They were walking quickly to a part of the palace that was just the slightest bit unfamiliar to him (but then again, he hadn't much time to explore now that the god was having him work from sunrise to sunset). This time it was just a series of bridges crossing over a large costal ravine, the sound of crashing water filling his ears and the misty spray hanging thick in the air. The little god stopped right in the middle of the large, painted red wooden bridge that they were on, dropping Cloud's arm immediately after as if it were made out of hot coals. He hadn't looked at the blond, nor spoke to him.

"…Was it a bad time for me to appear?" Cloud hazarded the question. The little god shook his head. "Is it really that terrible that I was spared being taken by the shinigami?"

He watched as the child god's shoulders hunched up, making the rigid shoulders of his outfit rise up. "They don't have a right to comment about what I do. Neither of them."

"Lord Cid and this 'Aerith' woman?"

"…Yeah," Squall nodded.

"Well… don't you think they're trying to look out for you? You said so yourself that you see Cid as a father figure." He was greeted with silence. Cloud just smiled thinly. "You know, this is probably the first time I've seen you act like this."

The little storm god looked over his shoulder slightly. "Act like what…?"

"Like a child," Cloud answered truthfully. "For a moment I almost forgot you were a god."

"…You mean, you don't think I'm acting like a brat?"

"I think a child is entitled to act like a total brat from time to time." He slowly put a hand on top of Squall's head. "Especially if they have so much responsibility thrust onto them."

If the atmosphere wasn't heavy enough from moisture, it certainly had gotten heavier now because of the human's uncertainty over his actions and the god's seemingly lack of action. Soon though, the boy shrugged the hand off. "Don't patronize me."

"I didn't mean to." The blond pulled his hand back slowly. "Sorry."

"Don't apologise either," Squall grumbled. "It's not like you're doing anything wrong."

"Then what do you want me to do?"

"Just stay out of sight, alright!" Cloud remained silent, fighting the urge to question, if not lash back at the god. "I don't want to see you while Cid's here! He'll just wreck everything!"

If there was a pain that could aptly describe the feeling he got in his chest at hearing those words, then that would be the best simile. But he kept his meekness, taking a few steps back and bowing only very slightly. "I'll leave then."

He turned and walked away, leaving the child god alone on the bridge. Maybe he should have stayed, but he didn't want to find out what kind of power that little body contained.

Had he known that the child god was in reality powerless in that form, he would've stayed.

* * *

As the cover of darkness fell on Arashi no Rakuen, the storm god's prisoner watched the starry sky in longing. Yuffie had been right; being trapped to this one open-air prison of his had made him long for the freedom that he could see, but could never reach. He let his hand rise up as if to grab at the brightest star in the sky, imagining that he was able to reach it, able to escape this place.

"Still trying to fly?"

Seifer sat up suddenly, seeing the scarred face of his lord, former friend and rival. The storm god was in his adult form, a form the tenshi was so familiar with unlike the child form he had been told so much about.

This must've been the first time he laid eyes on Lord Squall in thousands of years. "Still acting like a brat?"

"Might be," the adult Squall smirked, crossing his arms against his chest. The flap of his kinagashi fell slightly, revealing the blackening dragon tattoo etched into the skin. Seifer's brow furrowed.

"We're running out of time, aren't we?"

"Mmhm," the storm god answered, taking a seat on the wooden steps. "I take it you've met Cloud then."

"He stumbled across me," Seifer replied, keeping his face utterly straight. "You think this is the one?"

"Possibly. It's unconventional, but I'm not going to reject the possibility."

"And if not?" Seifer asked. "Are you going to have enough time to find yet another 'possibility'?"

"…I'm not sure." They fell silent, Seifer staring straight at him, but the god refusing to make eye contact. He knew that this was their last chance to survive the curse they had been put under.

"If you die, I'll die along with Arashi no Rakuen, and vice versa. Remember that." The tenshi stood up to full height, knowing that no matter how much they detested the fact that they were so tightly linked together, neither really felt the need to fall on their swords just to end the life of the other. "Make this work if you want to live. Or find a way to stop this place from disappearing."

"So pleased you have such faith in me," Squall dryly commented.

"I'd rather live if I can," Seifer retorted, glaring at the god. His sharp eyes watched as the god stood up slowly, with all the grace of a soaring bird. "I'd rather if all three of us can live." He noticed that the god seemed to tense at that statement, as if it had offended him. Seifer knew better; the god only flinched or made clear of his unease when he was hiding something from him.

He stood up quickly. "Something happened to Rinoa?" No answer. Seifer treaded violently towards the god, forgetting the details of his own curse. "You know something. Tell me." The god looked away; he clearly knew that he couldn't lie to the tenshi. The tenshi were incredibly gifted lie detectors. "Squall!"

"…Why should you know?" was the angered response. "It's all your fault this happened!"

"Because it's my damned fault that I should know! What happened to her?-!"

"Think about it! Think about this damn curse we were all given! She may not have been linked to us like we are to each other, but she was the first to suffer!" His glare was intense. "Think about it, you foolhardy featherbrain!"

Seifer's hand grabbed the god by the throat, ignoring the burning electrical current running up his arm. He saw the look of pain crossing the god's face; by crossing the invisible barrier to grab at him, both tenshi and god were suffering. Seifer's cold glare betrayed naught a drop of the pain he really was feeling. His anger was feeding him. "Tell me or I'll break your fucking neck."

"You'll only kill yourself doing it," the adult Squall growled back. But now Seifer's hand has actually latched itself to the brunet's neck, as if ready to squeeze.

"Tell me," Seifer says it; his voice had gone dark, low and downright scary. And he damn well knew he was doing it.

"You try and I'll get every seishin within a hundred mile radius here."

"Oh, but then that means revealing our little curse, wouldn't it?" Seifer smirked. "And you know that neither of us can tell _anyone_ about how to go about breaking it, or what the damage its doing to us both." At that moment, the tenshi felt the burning scar that was the opposite of the god's on his chest, knowing that his phoenix mark was becoming an angrier blood red the darker black Squall's dragon mark became. This only meant one thing.

"Get. _Off_!" A strong powerful force, akin to the force of a thousand angered winds, threw the tenshi off the god, sending him flying backwards with a painful thud into the tree. With that much power used though, when Seifer opened his eyes, he noticed that the god had grown younger by several physical years; he was now in the image of a seventeen year old boy. Both were panting; it was punishing on them both. "If you want to know so much, fine," the teenage god yelled, "She's dead! Rinoa's dead!"

The look in the blond's eyes spoke volumes. The anger, the sadness and the last light of hope had been extinguished. He was never going to see her again. It was in that moment that the god felt a sense of pity for the blond. He turned away, not wanting to face him. "You just had to keep pushing though, didn't you… you would've been better off never knowing…" Nothing was said. The teenage god walked away, letting his body slowly revert back to that of a child. Seifer never even looked up to see it happen. "There's nothing we can do to bring her back… so let's try to survive this… for her sake…"

Even as he walked away, Seifer knew that he wasn't going to get the full story. The god was still holding back information, but he was too tired to try and pry it from him. And deep down, some hidden sadistic part of him hoped that Squall would fail because it meant they could both die, and he could be reunited with Rinoa.

* * *

Ever since Cloud had practically been dismissed by the little god the previous day, he found himself at a bit of a loose end. Chores with the seishin kept him busy during the day, but nothing of interest really happened at night, and he had been advised -no, _ordered_- to not go gallivanting around the palace under the cover of darkness anyway. And besides, he figured that if he stayed in his room, the ever elusive Leon would appear. He was beginning to rather look forward to their meetings, especially since the hotoke sometimes parted with some information about the world he was now living in.

As of yet though, nothing. He sighed; maybe Leon was too busy tonight as well.

"What's the sigh for?" He opened his eyes; looking like a disembodied head over the balcony edge, he saw the familiar shaggy chocolate locks, piercing grey-blue eyes and scarred face of the selfsame hotoke. He nearly fell over from surprise. The hotoke koukennin just tilted his head, as if denoting confusion, but his face hadn't changed an inch. "Surprised to see me?"

"Do you make a habit of just turning up out of the blue?" the human frowned, trying to get himself recomposed.

"I'm a hotoke," his companion rather dully replied. "Appearing out of nowhere kind of comes with the territory."

"Right… right…" But the more he looked at it, the more he felt like he was just looking at something horrific. "Just… get inside alright. I'd rather like to talk to a head with a body attached."

With a slight sparkle of amusement in his eyes, the hotoke pulled himself up effortlessly into the room, letting his feet rest on the banister, hunched up like some waiting demon. Cloud just looked at him in silence. "So," the shadowy koukennin started, "What was the sigh for?"

"…I'm worried."

"Worried? About what?"

"It's about Squall." He noticed that the glint in his eyes had changed to surprise; for someone who's facial expression rarely changed, Cloud had quickly learnt to gage the emotions of others by the light in their eyes alone. Then again, it appeared to be the only way Cloud could even understand just what his young lord was even thinking, if only a partial bit. "I know he's a god and I don't think I'll ever understand him totally, but he seems to be acting more oddly than usual."

Leon's face betrayed nothing, not even a speck of concern. "How so?"

"Well… for one he doesn't want to see my face right now which is a little odd considering that during most days I never have a moment to myself. Then… I think I heard something that I ought not to, and that's turned his mood sour."

"What was that?"

"…the fact that he hasn't even told the Shi no Kami that he saved me. The fact that I'm here seems to have put him in a predicament." It slowly pieced together. "I questioned his logic, even though I was the one that should have been grateful." He sighed. "Little wonder he's miffed with me. He must think I'm just wasting his time." He looked up when he heard an amused sound come from the hotoke. "What?"

"You don't have much of a way with words, do you?"

"You're not exactly a shining example of how a conversation should be conducted," Cloud retorted. "I had to pry a name out of you, remember?"

"Hmm…" The hotoke jumped off his perch, entering the room. This was the first time he had done this. He seemed to ignore Cloud's statement. "I don't think he feels that way about you." The human just gave him a passive look, one that asked him if he had heard his end correctly. "Sure, Lord Sephiroth isn't exactly the easiest person to deal with, but if you really weren't worth the effort, then Squall wouldn't have even bothered to save you." He sat down in front of the kneeling blond, cross legged, uncaring if his kinagashi fell away slightly. "In that sense, you're special."

"Special? Why?"

"For one," Leon began, lifting one finger up, "not many boys get sacrificed wearing full bridal gear-" He _knew_ those girls were sniggering for a reason! It just seemed like such an inappropriate thing to find mirth over considering he died for that damned village in that jūnihitoe! "-and two, you could say that things among the ryoushu are tetchy enough as it is. Saving you wasn't going to make things any worse."

"And here I thought he must've seen something he liked," Cloud rather hollowly commented. "Guess he just wanted to get back at the Shi no Kami then."

"Something like that," the hotoke mumbled, as if apologetic. Not that he had anything to be apologetic for in Cloud's mind. He then turned his eyes back to the human. "Cloud, you up to much right now?"

"Uhh…" Cloud spread his arms out as if to indicate just how stupid the question was. He had been sitting in this room of his bored rigid waiting for something to happen. Of course he 'wasn't up to much'!

"Right, stupid question," Leon fumbled. He seemed a little awkward over this. "Then… would you like to take a walk?"

"A walk?" Cloud blinked. "Not that I wouldn't jump at the chance to get out of here, but Squall will kill me for going out at this hour."

"You're technically dead already," Leon pointed out. Cloud's lips pursed into an 'oh' shape, as if realising -or more like remembering- that.

"…Touché," Cloud replied, remembering that odd word from the travelling merchant parade back in his childhood. The fortune telling mistress had taught him it. "He'll just probably sulk, have me mildly electrocuted on the spot and then keep me under house arrest for a few years."

Much to his surprise, Leon chuckled at that statement. Not the dry kind that Cloud had gotten used to. It actually sounded… entertained. "Maybe," he replied. He stood up slowly and offered his hand. "Shall we?"

At first, Cloud wasn't sure whether to take the hand or not. For all he knew, this koukennin would probably put him in danger, or, if he really had angered the little god, was on orders to kill him quickly and quietly so that no one would notice. However, he didn't feel any doubt about whether to trust him or not; the man wasn't lying, and he didn't come across as someone who had something to hide. Slowly, he allowed his hand to slip into the brunet's.

Calloused hands, probably from weapon training. It felt similar to his, although his hands were more used to farm work than fighting. That hand's grip strengthened, all the power of a muscular arm pulling the blond up to his feet. Leon didn't quite let go though, but Cloud didn't pull away either. "I'm guessing we're not going to be conventional and leave through the front door."

The smirk he got in response was almost terrifying. "I was never one for convention." He suddenly pulled the human to his chest, throwing him over his shoulder and turning on his heel swiftly to the open window.

"H-Hey! Put me down!" Cloud yelled, startled. But the hotoke wouldn't let go, jumping out of the opening, still holding onto the human tightly even as he landed on his feet so lightly it was almost as if he were made of air. Even then he did not release the blond, charging off over the roofs and tiled walls of the palace, ignoring the indignant yowls from the blond who was, quite rightly so, petrified.

* * *

News had arrived from Yazushi relatively more quickly than Demyx had expected, the ningyo he had sent as messenger returning with a reply that was quintessentially so Zexion-like. _"I know. Now don't bother me again."_ Demyx could only shake his head; of course the Kage no Kami would know. Even though the Souzou Shin had made it impossible for people to keep track of the lady Rinoa, Zexion was so relentless that the he grabbed impossibility by the neck in a strangle hold and forced it to become possibility. The god just couldn't take 'no' for an answer.

Even so, the Mizu no Kami had hoped that maybe he helped, if only a little. He felt a heavy hand clap him on the back. "What's up, shrimp?"

"I'm not a shrimp anymore, Lord Cid," the lesser god grumbled, frowning childishly at the considerably elder god. "And it's this whole thing with the curse that's come up."

"Heh, so yer not in the loop either," the grizzled man commented, sounding a bit disheartened by it.

"Lord Squall doesn't talk about his curse," the shrewd voice of the lightning goddess, Larxene, pointed out. She walked over to the pair that were sitting in the main meeting room. Seishin were scuttling about serving to their every whim; one seishin girl, one of Larxene's handmaidens, knelt down and offered the goddess her usual choice of bitter confectionary. "Don't know if it's because it's still a sore spot for him or if he just prefers not to."

"I'm not so sure," Demyx replied. "Lord Squall's biggest flaw may be his pride, but I don't think he'd withhold information on purpose."

"Let's not forget that this _is_ Lord Squall we are talking about. He's about as volatile as those storms he can conjure up." Larxene's eyes fell back onto the sky god. "Did you think he'd tell us?"

"Yer both permanent fixtures here. Of course I'd think he would tell ya!" He sighed heavily. "That boy… if it weren't for the fact that I was a ryoushu, he'd give me grey hairs way before my time."

"Technically you should be grey," Demyx pointed out, but he soon realised his mistake in mentioning age; Cid's eyes were like spear points boring holes into his frame. He turned to Larxene in a desperate bid for help, but the lightning goddess' eyes were turned away, looking at something far more interesting. "Larx, what's up?"

"It's Lord Squall." The other two came to have a gander. Sure enough, there was the very god they were talking about, in his adult form. It was who he was with -and was having a good time scolding the god- that surprised them all.

"It's that human," Cid blinked.

"And he's getting away with telling him off like that," Larxene added, eyes as wide as saucers. "Cloud… what manner of man are you?"

Cid seemed to ponder over this, while Demyx and Larxene just stared at the human in awe. Honestly, what on earth gave such a lowly being the right to even dare talk to someone of higher rank so informally, let alone scold them? Cid finally broke the silence: "He hasn't told the human."

"Huh?" Larxene started. "Oh… yes. He hasn't."

"Lord Squall hasn't said a word about this to Cloud?-!" Demyx exclaimed. This was news to him.

"Of course not," Larxene snorted. "Do you really think a human is going to be able to comprehend a shape shifting lord? His brain will probably overheat from trying to do so."

"Hey, you don't give him enough credit! He's been understanding just fine what's going on!"

"He _laughed_ at the sight of Lord Squall when he was in his child form. His poor human mind just simply snapped when he saw that all his beliefs in what the Arashi no Kami is were not the truth."

"But look at him now! It's only been two weeks and he's already adapted really well to the situation!"

"Oh please, humans were _born_ to be adaptable."

"So you're saying he's doing it without even understanding it?"

"Exactly."

Cid had said nothing, but a small, whimsical smile had appeared on his face as he watched the god and the human interact with each other. It appeared that the human had won this row; he looked plenty calm. "So you're trying out a new strategy… huh, Squall?"

* * *

Cloud was out of breath from his terrified rant, while Leon was just standing there watching him in silence, as if just letting the human's words sink in but not really responding to them. He finally said, "You finished your scolding?"

"…You haven't listened to a word I said, have you?"

"You don't want me to surprise you like that again. I believe that was the gist of what I could make out." The hotoke koukennin took his shoulder calmly, giving it one reassuring squeeze. "You'll live. One of my good points is that I'm not clumsy."

"That wasn't exactly my point."

"Come on." Leon pushed the blond along, making him quirk an eyebrow in question. "We'll be late."

"Late for what?"

"You'll see." They walked into the Dragon Garden, the ponds becoming shining mirrors of moonlight and the streams into rivers of silver. Cloud was already bewitched by this twilight realm, his eyes reflecting the enchanted beauty. Leon beckoned to him to follow, walking towards the centre of these glowing mirrors and rivers. Cloud trailed after him, wondering what the hotoke was going to do next. When they were in the centre, Leon faced him, his own grey-blue eyes reflecting the moonlight like glass.

"What am I supposed to see?"

"Stop asking questions," Leon responded lowly, "and look with your eyes." Out of the reeds and water-loving flora sprung out glowing threads of light, zipping through the air at varying speeds. Some stopped in front of them, some ignored them and others seemed to dance around them. Cloud looked at them in wonder, even more surprised when Leon lifted his hand up to one and it happily perched in the palm of his hand. "They're called hitodama," Leon explained. "The spirits of humans."

"Why are they here?"

"These humans were considered too good for a life lived in terror in the Shi no Kami's domain, so some came to live here while others went to the Shizen no Kyuuden as they're the closest to their world." He smiled thinly as the hitodama in his hand seemed to affectionately rub itself against his palm before flying off to join its fellows. "This is their heaven. Eventually, one day, they'll be reborn as seishin in these realms."

"What about those under the Shi no Kami's care?" Cloud asked, hesitantly lifting his hand up to the hitodama that had stopped to investigate him. Just as shyly as he had been, the spirit fire tentatively perched in his palm.

"When he sees their punishment has been carried out, they'll reincarnate as humans, to either better themselves or degrade themselves further. If they reach the infinites of sin… then Sephiroth can either make them into monsters or destroy them completely." Leon's eyes were following the hitodama, as if saddened by the prospect their brethren in the Ankoku no Sekai faced. "But Sephiroth and the Souzou Shin are becoming more and more convinced that humans are incapable of any good. That they innately sin. So they want to destroy the human world and start afresh."

"But Squall and Lord Cid oppose them."

"The Shizen no Megami, Lady Aerith too."

The hitodama that had been nestling in Cloud's palm took flight, its warm glow brushing past Cloud's cheek softly as it dashed off to join its companions. Cloud watched as it returned and even more hitodama came to investigate, the warm fires merely touching him for a second to gauge whether the human was safe or not. The hotoke looked on with an impressed expression. "They like you Cloud."

"Why? I haven't done anything special."

"It's probably because you're human," Leon replied. "You're familiar to them. New hitodama won't even approach the gods when they first arrive." He looked over to his shoulder when he felt one of the spirit fires rest on it happily, watching as the human was almost overwhelmed by the flickering creatures.

And Cloud had to admit, it didn't feel at all bad having this feeling of being overwhelmingly liked and wanted. Even if those that wanted his attention weren't even able to speak to him. He lifted his palms up, watching as three little hitodama settled into them like baby birds in a nest. They seemed to flicker more enthusiastically in his hands, encouraging the rest to follow their example.

"I've never seen them like this," Leon murmured. "Maybe he was right to save you."

"So you were another one who questioned Squall's sanity when he saved me?" Cloud dryly commented.

"Not denying it," Leon replied. "But now that I've seen you interact with the hitodama, I'm starting to see where he's coming from." He then took one step forward, which made the hitodama scatter for a moment, all except for the ones in Cloud's hand who seemed to feel secure in his hold. "Are you glad I brought you here?"

"Well, it definitely makes a change from just sitting in my room at night doing nothing," Cloud admitted, looking up at Leon. Although the hotoke's expression, in the time that he had known him, never changed, the blond couldn't but think there was something so soft about the gaze in his eyes. "…but yes. I am glad." He brought the hitodama up a bit, encouraging them carefully to return to their friends. "This answers some questions I had."

"So I helped to shed some light."

"In a roundabout way, yes." He smiled quietly as the hitodama finally left him, joining their fellows. "I think I understand a bit more about what's going on, even if there's still so much I want to understand." His expression changed to surprise when the hitodama sped off, as if something had spooked them.

"They're probably going to see if there are any new hitodama in the forest," Leon explained. "They're creatures of habit. If they hear a fellow hitodama in trouble, they'll go running to help them."

"…I kind of envy them," Cloud whispered. Leon looked down at him. "They have each other to look out for. Back when I was in the human world… I only had my mother. And when she died, it felt like the world had turned its back on me entirely." He looked down at his feet, as if there were something there that would give him some comfort. "I was all alone."

"You're not now though," Leon stated. Although he made no move to try and physically assure him of that, words alone seemed to be more powerful than actions. Cloud looked over at him. "You have me, and all the seishin and other creatures you have met. And you also have Squall and the kishi to talk to. All of us will have time to listen if you need to talk to someone." Now it was Leon's turn to look away; it was obvious to Cloud that the hotoke wasn't used to giving advice. "What I'm saying is… you aren't alone. Not while you're here."

The silence that fell between them was awkward, since the human had no idea how to respond to the hotoke's statement. It was, after all, the kindest thing he had said so far, something in itself that took some getting used to by both parties. It had been Cloud who broke the silence, murmuring something he knew was often taken for granted by those who didn't understand its deeper meaning. "Thank you…"

And Leon replied with the words that Cloud had never heard being given to him, for he had no chance to thank those who helped for there had been none who did. "You're welcome…"


	5. Itsuban no Monogatari

**A/N:** Dear readers, please forgive me currently having a spazz attack. Oh no, its not a condition. It's more like... it's been caused by the announcement of Tales of the Abyss being remade. For the DS. (Ok, 3DS which means I'll have to fork a little bit of extra money to get the necessary console for it but heh, I've had my old pink faithful original DS for what feels like aeons. It might not have been as hi-tech as the other DS's, it may have been a little overweight compared to them, but to me, it's my Nigella Lawson; somewhat comforting, does what it says on the tin, and has no extra frills or gizmos that you may find on the Heston Blumenthal's (DSi)) So yes, that is why I've nearly terrorised my cat who was happily snoozing on my bed with me. Pity her for her slightly crazy owner.

Fangirl-ish mood done. Thank you all for your patience with me T.T I am not worthy considering all the time it takes to try and churn a chapter for this and Ever After. Love you all. Please read, review and enjoy~ Reviews are my Slimming World curries (yup, dieting once more. The Xmas bulge will be BLITZED!)

* * *

Squall's mood seemed to improve after a couple of days of stewing over, meaning that for Cloud, his duties resumed as normal. Though, it was interesting to notice that the child god was a lot calmer about his human servant being seen by the Sukai Shin, even being asked to stay behind as the mature-looking god questioned the child god about many things. Eventually, Cloud was invited to sit and talk to the Sukai Shin, though it was often about his homeland and how the human race viewed the gods. It was one such a time that things took a turn for the interesting.

It was a particularly ungodly hot day in Arashi no Rakuen. In order to escape the heat in the enclosed spaces of the palace, the gods and those whose duties were not linked to the upkeep of the storm god's home decided to spend the day on the beach. Not everyone was entirely happy with this notion.

"…I hate the sea," Axel grumbled, looking at the expanse of dark blue with a disgruntled look. His usual companion, the sun god Roxas, could only sympathetically smile at him.

"No one's telling you to go in," he pointed out.

"So? I still hate it." He glared as he watched Demyx merrily frolicking about in the surf with a few water-loving seishin and ningyo, as if trying to curse them for finding revelry in his 'pet hate'.

"Oh come on Axel. It was just one itty bitty splash that evaporated as soon as it came into contact with you," Roxas chided lightly. "It's not like you were traumatised for life."

"Tell that to Larxene! She's the one that tried to take advantage of the situation!"

Said Kaminari no Megami has happily lazing about on the beach, a small raijuu cub laying on her stomach as it purred in content, shockwaves of electricity pulsing through its amber fur, long curling tail swishing lightly against the ground. As per usual, her handmaids were attending to her every whim. There was something rather regal about the appearance she had created for herself. Further along, in a pavilion that had been built for the occasions someone wanted to view the beach, the child god Squall was deep in conversation with his grizzled looking equal, the details of which were lost on his human attendant. As such, Squall had given Cloud permission to mingle with the rest of the relaxing otherworldly inhabitants, but the human avoided the sea. It held a much too terrifying memory of drowning, even if this sea was calm and gentle compared to the wild and angered one in his mind's eye. Instead, he walked along the shore, having wondered about this stretch of land that he hadn't the chance or the time to explore thoroughly.

White sand, black and grey rocks, the odd shell that seemed perfectly placed, not a single thing out of place or not meant to be here. Cloud wasn't sure he liked it; he was more used to seeing beached fishing boats and fisherman looking like patient, all-seeing guardians. An empty beach like this seemed unnatural. He turned to go back to the group, but his attention was taken when he heard an odd sound. It was like a clicking noise, a noise that was quite animalistic in itself. He turned to look for it; it appeared to be coming from behind a large formation of black rock that was quite close to the forest at the rear. Approaching it slowly, he looked over.

Bright, wide yellow eyes met him. The body it was attached to was pitch black, insect-like antenna twitching, sharp black claws and large, clumsy-looking feet. It didn't look at all threatening. He smiled. It seemed quite adorable actually. The little creature seemed to consider him, before jumping up on top of the rock and clicking merrily at the blond human. He reached out to touch it.

"Cloud! Get away from it!" Sora's panicked shriek echoed. Cloud turned to look at his yoake no seishin friend in bemusement. Riku was following Sora, his face probably the most expressional that it had ever been.

"What's wrong?" He honestly didn't see any harm in this creature. It wasn't like it was going to-

His train of thought was interrupted as he felt a sudden heaviness weigh upon his soul, a dark depression spreading throughout his very body. This shadow… where did it come from?

"Cloud!" Sora yelled. "Run!"

But he didn't. Instead, he looked over his shoulder, seeing a huge, black shape that was so sinister looking. Cloud's mouth went dry, eyes widened. Was this… an oni that Paine had told him about? The creature cried out when a stone hit its face with a might thwack.

"Don't just stand there!" He felt his hand seized by a cool hand. He whipped his head to see that it was Riku, who had thrown the projectile. "Come on!" He dragged the human away, screaming to Sora, "Warn the others! Shadow Oni!"

"Got it!" Like a bird caught in good winds, Sora practically flew across the sand to the still playing seishin and gods, leaving clouds of sand in his wake. Riku was clearly not as fast as his dawn-worshipping friend, but he was doing a good job of outrunning the large shadowy creature.

"What's going on?-!" Cloud demanded.

"You've treaded into that oni's territory, and it's our luck that it's a mother! It sees us as its babies' next meal!" They both yelped as the oni smashed its clawed hand on the sand, sending a shockwave through the ground that made both human and seishin lose their balance and fall to the ground. The shock had a more adverse effect on the chikyuu no seishin; his own element of the earth had totally paralyzed him due to his sensitivity. Cloud wouldn't leave him behind, desperately trying to move the silver-haired one but the other's body felt as immovable as a mountain. The oni had gotten closer; Cloud threw his body over Riku's, knowing that this fleshy shield was futile but it was all he could do. He closed his eyes tightly, hoping the blow would be painless.

It never came. The oni screeched in agony. "Don't just lie around there you dolts!" He opened his eyes when he heard the voice of the lightning goddess, just seeing her run past, electrocuted kunai in hand.

"Demyx, get them to safety!" That was the Hi no Kami's voice, exotic round spiked weapons in hand as he charged right past them. Roxas, wielding two short katanas was following closely.

"Got it!" The water god skidded over to them, droplets of the sea still clinging to him. "Can we move him?"

"I can't get Riku to move!" Cloud tried again to move the seishin, but again it proved the effort was all in vain. Demyx murmured something in a musical voice and from the sea, a wall of water surrounded them protectively, leaving them in a bubble that could not be popped. Cloud's eyes widened.

"It's all I can do. I left my sitar behind because I thought I could get you two away from here," Demyx stated. His face was unusually steely, his normally playful sea-coloured eyes glaring hard at the oni. "We'll just have to hope that those three can handle it."

His attention was turned back to the battling gods, who were using all the powers they had to force back the oni. Larxene summoned her dominance over lightning, Axel's weapons burst into two fiery wheels that left trails of where they had been, while Roxas' twin blades shone like the sun, waves of light being emitted from them in graceful arcs. But nothing seemed to deter the large black creature, forcing the three gods to back off when in started to attack; or in Roxas' case, Axel pushed him out of harm's way. Axel escaped the attack with a bloody claw mark on his back.

"Axel!" Roxas yelped. The red-haired god just grunted, shaking the pain off and standing ready, his spiked wheels igniting once more.

"Mommy ain't going down without a fight," he muttered. He then smirked. "I think I like them hard to beat." He ran straight for it, tossing one of the fiery wheels straight at the oni and watching it slam into its chest head on. With a whistle, the weapon returned to its master, as if enchanted by some long-forgotten witch. The oni was still ready to fight, and it made to slam a claw on the fire god. Fortunately for him, the lightning goddess distracted it by throwing a kunai just brimming with electrical energy at its eye. The scream was deafening. "Thanks Larx!"

"Don't die on me, alright?-!" the goddess called back, throwing more kunai at the oni before calling them back to her. Roxas, realising that throwing himself at the oni would only mean that Axel would incessantly worry about him rather than about himself, stayed behind, guarding the water dome that was protecting god, human and seishin inside.

"That oni is much stronger than a usual one," Demyx murmured, attention taken by his creation when he heard it make a sound he wasn't happy with. "Cloud, if this thing collapses, you need to run."

"I can't leave Riku here!"

"Don't worry about him," Demyx grinned weakly. "We'll protect him." He then looked back at the oni. "…Right now though, we need a miracle…"

As soon as that word was out of his mouth, Axel and Larxene were knocked back forcefully, the red-haired fire god being thrown into the tiny form of the sun god, while the lightning goddess skimmed past the protective watery dome, forcing Demyx to quickly try to repair it with his control over the element but ultimately he was struggling without his sitar. Cloud watched as the barrier collapsed, soaking them all with salty sea water. The oni was getting closer.

Cloud didn't run despite that. He just stared in those yellow orbs that were glowing sinisterly at them, unable to tea himself away from them. The only thing running through his mind was the fact that they were all in danger; oni ate hearts, and the stronger they were, the tastier. The kishi ranked gods were scrambling to their feet, realising that this was a fight that would be hard won, but their prior concern was getting the storm god's attendant and the seishin out of harm's way. The oni made to strike, a terrifying screech escaping as it opened its once hidden jaw to reveal a row of sharp, blackened teeth.

A sharp blast of wind skimmed over their heads, a heavily scaled tail with a furry end whacking into the oni's frame. A large furry paw with cold cruel claws landed firmly in front of the scrambling group, the shadow of a creature Cloud failed to recognise casting over them. A bellowing roar escaped it, head lowered in challenge. The kishi were frozen in shock.

"Lord Squall…" Roxas whispered.

The creature moved, attacking the oni and forcing it onto its back; Cloud saw that its hind legs belonged to a black dragon, but its front legs and head were a lions. Black scaled wings with red flaps were carefully, neatly folded against its back like paper fans, silvery fur complimenting greatly to its reptilian hindquarters. Oni and lion-draconic creature rolled about in the sand in constant struggle, both trying their hardest to maim and kill the other.

It was when the horde of little oni, having seen their mother's struggle, tried to get involved. It was then the kishi sprung back into action, Larxene's kunai flying quick like lightning bolts while Axel and Roxas charged straight into the dark masses. Demyx, seeing that all oni were otherwise occupied, helped Cloud tend to the still unconscious Riku. But Cloud's mind was elsewhere…

Didn't Roxas call out Squall's name?

Cloud turned his attention back to the warring creatures, eyes widening when he saw that the lion-dragon's fur and scales were stained with blood, but not all of it was red as expected. No… most of the blood was black as night, like the shadowy oni the lion-dragon was fighting. And between the roars of anger and screams of pain, Cloud couldn't help but be morbidly entranced by the sheer physical power that was showcased in the lion-dragon's limbs. After moments of struggle, the creature finally bit down on the oni's neck, eliciting a terrible scream as the shadowy monster thrashed about trying to escape. The lion-dragon didn't relent, suddenly pulling his great shaggy mane away, black blood flying, dripping organ in its cruel mouth. The oni went limp, slowly its body evaporating from sight in great trails of dark smoke.

If there was anything Cloud had learned that day, it was that this creature was not to be trifled with, regardless of form. And that this form took a lot of magical power out of the one who transformed into it. That person… was little Lord Squall. Cloud froze in horror as the creature collapsed, exhausted from the fight. The kishi ranked gods immediately called out their lord's name in alarm, running to the creature just as a bright light emitted from its form. Blinded, Cloud shielded his eyes until the light subsided. When he looked again, he saw that Roxas was trying to hold up the little storm god that had been knocked out from his transformation, the other three fretting about as they hovered over them. He didn't even here seishin come running over to check on them, just watching the little god.

So there had been some truth to the stories he had been told. The Arashi no Kami did have a half bestial, half draconic form. He slowly walked over, falling to his knees once he had approached the passed out god. "Will he… be alright?"

"He'll heal quickly," Roxas whispered, tearing strips from his white yukata and wrapping them around some wounded areas as makeshift bandages. "He just needs to rest and recuperate." He then sighed heavily. "Thank the heavens he had been the stronger one this time." The fact that Roxas had said that suggested that they had been lucky this time. Next time someone could have died.

"This is my fault, isn't it?" he murmured quietly.

Larxene made to speak, but Axel grabbed her shoulder and shook his head. This wasn't their place to speak. A human couldn't have possibly known the dangers areas outside the palace domain. How was he to know he had travelled outside those invisible borders? It had been Demyx that had reassured the human; "It's not like you intended for this to happen. I'm just glad we all managed to survive the attack." He then picked the young child god up. "For now, let's just get back inside the palace. We all need the chance to recover from what happened."

While the rest helped the chikyuu no seishin back to his feet, and some began clearing up everything that they had taken with them for their small trip to the beach, Cloud had quietly followed the gods that were fussing over Squall, guilt ridden despite the Mizu no Kami's assurance that he was not to blame. How could he not, when it was he who had so naively thought that an oni infant was harmless? For now though, all he could do was pray that his carelessness had not caused permanent damage.

* * *

Although he worried about Riku, the chikyuu no seishin had reminded him that his duty was to attend to the storm god's needs, not his. He had Sora, ever persistent in tending to his wounds rather than perform his own duties. So because of that, Cloud found himself just staring at the door into Squall's chambers, unsure if the child god would want to see his face if he had woken up by now. Eventually, he forced himself to go in, kneeling down and pushing the sliding door open after stating he was coming in.

Squall was pretty much confined to his luxurious futon, the Mizu no Kami and the Taiyou Shin doing their best with towels, bowls full of water and bandages to tend to the fast healing scratches and marks the child had received. The other three gods were no where to be seen. The youngest looking of the blond pair smiled at Cloud. "Knew you would come and see if you could be of some help"

"Looks like Axel owes you then. What was the wager?"

"Cooked meal from him."

"Death wish?"

"No. I rather enjoy it when he does cook. He makes it interesting." He then beckoned to the human to approach them; Cloud obeyed quietly, taking a spot next to the water god. "Fortunately for Lord Squall he didn't suffer anything permanent or long-term. He just needs to be monitored over the next two days." He wiped his brow with a sodden, folded hand towel, getting rid of some sweat that had been on the boy's brow. "More than anything, he needs someone who can be with him until he's able to move about on his own."

"And that's where you come in," Demyx chipped in. "Seeing as you're the personal attendant and all."

"You sure he's not going to be angry at me for what happened?" Cloud asked quietly, only knowing all too well just what the little storm god's attitude was like.

"I doubt it," Roxas replied. "If anything, it's because you were there that Lord Squall acted the way he did." He stood up slowly. "I think you need to give him a little more credit, Cloud." He gave a glance to Demyx; the water god caught onto what the sun god was telling him with his eyes and stood too. "Make sure he rests and is kept cool in this heat. Demyx and I have wrapped his bandages already so you shouldn't worry about his wounds."

"Ah… right," Cloud nodded, feeling his rather pitiful confidence sapping away at the knowledge that he had been put in charge of Squall's recovery.

"Take care," Demyx grinned, sliding the door shut as he and the sun god exited the room.

Now it was just them. The human looked down at the child god, pursing thin pale lips as he noticed just how banged up he was from that battle. Even if he was healing quickly, the fact that the boy's nagajuben was unable to cover all of the bandage work the two kishi had done spoke volumes to him. The boy groaned from the intense heat, beads of sweat poring on his skin. Without a moment's hesitation, knowing this was all he could do, Cloud reached out for a wet towel, re-soaked it in one of the bowls filled with crystal clear water, wrung it then dabbed away at the boy's forehead before placing the towel there once he had folded it.

He would just have to repeat this until the storm god woke up to either dismiss him or order him about. To be frankly honest with himself both would've made Cloud happy; it would mean that the youngster would be back to normal.

* * *

It was late into the night when the storm god finally stirred, eyes blearily making out the ceiling that he was familiar waking up to. His body felt heavy -side effects of a god's self-healing abilities- but he forced his tiny frame to sit up. Doing so, he disturbed whatever had been resting on his forehead. Now it lay in his lap. A towel. He frowned lightly. Had he been injured that badly? Letting his eyes adjust to the dark room, he checked his frame. Bandages up his arms, around his chest and abdomen, his legs were partially covered too. But none hurt, and it felt like he had healed completely. So why all the fuss?

He heard a snuffle, telling him that he was not alone in the room. He turned to the source, seeing that, illuminated by the moonlight, the blond tresses of his attendant. The human had fallen asleep, uncaring that the coarse tatami flooring would leave imprints on his pale cheeks. Squall could only sigh and shake his head. Indeed… what had been all the fuss for? It's not like he wasn't able to recover from that fight with the oni. Surely he could be given that kind of credit. He looked away, pondering over what to do now. Most of the palace would have fallen asleep… and he couldn't just very well let Cloud just sleep there. It was a question of whether or not he could change into his adult form right now. If he couldn't, then dragging Cloud to some form of cushioning posed a problem.

He screwed his face up hard in concentration, trying to force what little power he had into maintaining a form that was more useful than his child one. Mercifully, even if it wasn't his desired appearance, he managed to age his body to that of a youth of seventeen years. It had the strength he needed. Using it, he rolled the blond onto his back and dragged him over to the futon, grunting a little bit as the human was still a little heavy for him all things considered. Eventually, both were on cushioned surface, Squall falling onto his side and just watching the human's chest rise and fall with every inhale and exhale of air he took.

He had tired himself out. That much was clear to the god, but it seemed so surreal thinking that this man had tried to make amends for something that really wasn't his fault. How was he to know of that the oni made their home outside the palace walls? He ran a hand down Cloud's pale cheek, smirking lightly as he felt small imprints left by the tatami floor. "You need to stop worrying so much," he murmured as he allowed himself to revert back to his childlike self, long hands becoming smaller, fingers shortening and softening from the calluses that should have been there. He then chuckled in that soft voice, letting himself just fall asleep too.

* * *

As crisp morning sunlight disturbed his otherwise peaceful slumber, Cloud struggled to get a gist of his surroundings. He was definitely not in his room, that much was certain, but it was surprising feeling his body being cushioned from the harshness of the floor. He heard it shift and he turned his head, seeing the young sleeping face of the storm god. He looked so unguarded that the human found it astonishing that there was such an attractive looking child behind that adult frown the storm god always seemed to wear. However, that didn't answer the most burning question in his mind: just how did he get in this position? He didn't remember moving… and Squall had still been resting and he doubted that the little child was strong enough to drag his tired frame onto the futon. Added to that, the other gods and the seishin wouldn't dare do something like that, nor would any other creature. This left only one possible candidate in Cloud's mind, since Miss. Kisaragi had yet to make an appearance (and she didn't strike him as the type to be this audacious).

Leon.

He sighed a bit. The hotoke did seem the type to do something like this, plus he had made it clear to him that he would look out for the human. Even so, he needn't have gone so far. He sat up slowly, trying to move away before the storm god woke. "…you can stay a little longer," Squall murmured sleepily, turning his body to his side. Cloud flinched at hearing the child's voice.

"Did I wake you?"

"Sort of was already awake," the god replied, rubbing his eyes before groggily forcing himself up. "My body feels heavy…"

"I'm not surprised," Cloud commented, holding back the sarcasm he nearly projected. "Do you want to lie down again?"

"No." Squall wobbled back onto his feet. "I feel a lot better." He then turned his grey gaze onto the blond human. "How about you? That oni didn't hurt you, right?"

The human felt his lips thin at that. His well being was not the concern here, Squall's was. "It didn't touch me." He felt himself worry more considerably when he saw the relieved look on the child's face.

"Good."

"You were hurt," Cloud reminded him.

"It was just a scratch."

"You were out for most of the day!" Cloud exclaimed, maybe a little more shrilly than he had intended. But his fears were justified. "Zexion told me you and the rest of the gods aren't immortal! You could have _died_!"

"And I didn't," Squall flatly stated. "So everything's alright."

"How can you be so carefree about this?-!"

"Why are you getting worked over something that's in the past? No one was seriously injured. Just be happy with that." He turned his head to the window. Cloud raised an eyebrow at that, wondering what was more interesting about the window. He jumped as a small frame swung through the open window with a soft _thump_ against the floor. He recognised the ninja garb immediately. He hadn't much contact with her, but he had seen Yuffie Kisaragi from time to time. This was probably the first time he was in the same room as the petite raven-haired immortal. "Yuffie," Squall curtly started.

"I wanted to apologise for my lack of action yesterday," she murmured. "I had no idea you were in danger." Cloud would've commented, but the look on the child god's face told him that it was best to stay silent on matters he knew nothing off.

"I told you to deal with _that_ matter," Squall responded. "You were too far away to have known."

"I still feel like a joke of a koukennin for not being there when you needed me the most," she stated quietly, guilt ridden. "At least… you're safe."

"That's all that matters." Squall began to walk away. "Now, did I miss anything yesterday?"

"I went oni hunting after I was told what happened," Yuffie reported. "The palace isn't in any immediate danger of an infestation, but I've had some of the seishin that are more capable at spell crafting make some protection tags just in case. They've been placing them around the walls all night."

"How's everyone else?"

"Worried about you but otherwise alright. One seishin was knocked out by the oni though, but he's on the road to recovery. And as you can see, Cloud here came out of it relatively unscathed, considering he was what got that oni nest so lively." At that, a pensive look crossed the young god's face.

"Are you certain of that?"

"Positive. An oni mother would never lash out like that if they had any knowledge of you being close by. Not unless there was something worth fighting over for." Yuffie's dark eyes flicked over to the blond human. "You must be something special to get that kind of reaction from an oni."

"Special…? I don't really see how I can be…"

"Anything else to report?" Squall cut across any chance of a response to Cloud's comment. Yuffie's face fell into surprise, but she didn't dare defy the god.

"Nothing. Lord Zexion may come back today or tomorrow. According to the messenger he may have something interesting to tell you."

"Good," Squall nodded. "You're dismissed. Let me know of any other developments."

"Understood," Yuffie replied, jumping out of the window soon after. Cloud had watched on in mild confusion; she was about to say something to him, but Squall seemed to not want it being said. Why? Before he had a chance to think through the consequences, the question in his mind popped out of his mouth.

"Is there something I should know?" He didn't get an answer; Squall seemed to be ignoring him again. Part of the human was glad to have been ignored, but at the same time he was annoyed that he had been. "Squall?"

"Thanks… for looking after me," the boy grumbled.

"It was-"

"Take the day off."

"Eh? Are you-"

"Don't make me repeat myself."

With a frown, but keeping his silence, he took to his feet and made his way to the door. "Then… don't push yourself too hard." Without even turning to look at him, Squall gave him a dismissive wave. The door slid open and shut; he was gone, walking down the hallway with a definitive annoyed spring in his step.

He had no idea that the master of shadows had watched him pass.

* * *

Squall watched the world pass by, sighing as some ethereal cranes floated along the winds. He grumbled a little bit; he hadn't wanted to be so curt to the human, but it had been necessary. He didn't want the blond to get involved in things that didn't concern him. He heard the door slide open and close again.

"My lord," came the whispering, calm voice of the Kage no Kami.

"So you have news for me," Squall responded, getting straight to the point.

"I've been looking to see if there was any curse similar to yours," Zexion stated. "Sadly, the worst the humans seem to come up with are killing curses that rob people of their wealth and family before the killing blow. The closest I can get to your type of curse are the kind that forces humans to be transformed into hideous beasts, and even they don't have death as an intended effect."

"…So basically, you've come back empty handed," Squall muttered.

"There's hope yet," the shadow god said calmly. "It appears that you may have been acting on instinct by saving Yuffie and Cloud."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Inwardly, Squall was celebrating. Finally, Zexion had caught on the way to break this wretched curse of his.

"That means, my lord, that you seem to be instinctively trying to find someone that will break the spell on you. Though your latest choice…"

"What about 'my latest choice'?" the child god asked testily. The Kage no Kami frowned lightly then allowed his face to fall back into disinterest.

"Considering that the usual way to break transformation curses is to gain the love of some pure-hearted maiden, you may be one step off course."

"Because Cloud is male?"

"Let's just say I don't doubt that he's got a good heart on him. The fact that he managed to attract an oni nest to him and that he doesn't appear to own a bad bone in his body stands testament to that. It's just that… well, I just hope that your curse isn't gender specific." Zexion took a step closer to the boy. "If I may be so bold as to suggest this, but would it be more efficient to choose several women in case we do need someone with a certain feminine quality."

"I don't have the leisure of time to do that kind of thing," Squall pointed out. "Any second spent trying to find someone more 'suitable' could turn into a second wasted."

"Or it could be a second well spent," Zexion countered. "Let me work on finding a suitable female candidate and you can see if your choice is the best one."

"Don't bother." Squall turned around to face the advisor to the gods. "You're better off trying to gain our most _honoured_ lord Xemnas' favour in hope that he may uplift his curse." Spiteful anger strained on the Souzou Shin's name, an anger that would never be cured, nor find forgiveness for the one who had wronged him.

"So I sit and do nothing?"

"No. Try to appease our Souzou Shin. Maybe his bitterness has subsided."

"And what will you do with Cloud?"

"I'll act as I've always have." He let his body shape shift, finding the strength to take his adult form after all the resting he had done. "I'll do things my way."

"And… what way is that?"

"Stay out of my path, and we'll see whose method triumphs."

* * *

Paine had joined him on his travels around the gardens, having caught onto the frustration the human was positively 'reeking' (to paraphrase her) of. The sprite perched on his shoulder, having decided it saved her the bother of having to fly after him. She had to admit, this speed-tour through the palace was amusing.

"What's he done now?" Paine asked.

"Who?" Cloud grumbled, finding himself stopping at a balcony at the Hanging Garden.

"Master. What's he done this time?"

"Acting all high and mighty and trying to tell me not to worry about him… stupid god…"

"Sounds like him," Paine responded dryly, flitting onto the balustrade of the wooden balcony and hopping along it. "Don't take such offence. It's his nature to act all tough." She then stopped and looked at him. "He's probably trying to not worry you too much in his own weird way."

"By doing that he's had the opposite effect."

"Eh, he's never going to change. He could come back half-dead and still say it's just a scratch."

"Don't tell me that," Cloud groaned, resting his forehead into his hands, his elbows pressing against the wood. "I've got an eternity to deal with. I don't want wrinkles because of stress, thanks."

"Technically you can't really get wrinkles now that you're here," Paine pointed out. She leaped up into the air, poking Cloud's forehead with a foot. The blond tried to swat the sprite away but she had foreseen the blow. She dodged agilely. "Worst you'll ever get is maybe a migraine."

"Thank you so much for the assurance," Cloud frowned sarcastically.

"It's the least I can do," she smirked. Her red eyes then squinted to look over the blond head of hair. "Oh…?" She looked to add to her sentence, then silenced immediately and changed her wording. "Looks like I'm needed elsewhere. Make sure you don't go attracting more oni while I'm gone, hmm?"

"You're not my mother," Cloud snapped irritably.

"Oooo, you're not cute at all." Paine flew off with that, barely leaving a smidgeon of a clue to her being there at all. Cloud just sighed heavily, looking into the great chasms and cliff sides that were special to this garden. Was he really just blowing this whole thing out of proportion? Or was he right to believe that Squall was acting too cool about what had happened? Whatever the answer was, Cloud was certain that he had been in the right to be concerned. He'd be crazy not to.

"What's the gloomy face for?"

Cloud looked up from his hands, seeing a familiar sleeve of a certain koukennin's kinagashi. He glanced up slightly; shaggy brown hair. "Surely you must know already."

"Let me guess. Tired yourself worrying about whether or not Squall was going to be alright only to have him tell you there's nothing to worry about when he did come around."

"Are you some kind of mind reader?"

"No. Just a wild stab in the dark." He turned his head to the blond, a pair of grey-blue eyes falling onto the human. "That, and I've learnt just what Squall is like after a long time with him."

"What is he like then?"

"He's got a lot on his shoulders and he doesn't know how to ask for help or be grateful. Some might say he's an unfriendly, introverted little kid but… I'd say just give him a chance."

"Unfriendly and introverted huh… sounds like my first impression of you."

"Hmm?"

"Suddenly appearing, demanding what I knew about some rhyme my mother used to say all the time, disappearing within a moment's notice, and forever more appearing and reappearing as you please. Introverted and unfriendly. Fits you to a T." Cloud then smirked a little at him. "You'd think the pair of you were related."

"Probably why you won't see us in the same room together. We'd try to kill each other." Leon appeared to have a quiet snigger at the human's statement in his reply, but Cloud was still unsure if he could read the hotoke. "So, am I right in assuming you've been ordered to take a day off?"

"Assumed correctly."

"Then I guess you haven't found anything to do then."

"I don't know how I'd slot into the palace routine," Cloud sighed. "Everything seems to be running like clockwork."

"That makes two of us who have spare time."

"I thought you'd be doing a patrol or some sort of mission at this time."

"Squall gave me my marching orders." Leon turned around so that his hands rested against the wood, face gazing out into the chasms. "He told me to make sure you take the day off."

"Never heard of an enforced day off."

"Get used to it. Squall's the type of person to make doubly sure his intentions are carried out." He pushed away, suddenly grabbing the human by the wrist and dragging him along. "Come on. You're only going to go mad thinking about it."

"Where are you taking me?" Cloud demanded.

"You'll see."

* * *

The Kage no Kami was a god that possessed a gift of extreme patience, a gift needed in his role as an advisor to all the gods. It was almost certainly all due thanks to this gift he was able to persevere with the Souzou Shin, using a method that mixed pleading and toadying the creator god. Even if it was just buying more time, or even a small clue on how to break Squall's curse, was a small mercy and an achievement. The Souzou Shin was not known for his benevolence despite being the creating life force of all creatures.

Even so, he'd be foolish to face the Souzou Shin now when his mind was already frayed from a few days and nights spent looking through every text that had curses and their cures as their subject. That was why he had found himself sprawled along the deck that was a part of Demyx's room and personal water garden. The water god seemed to be the only person that had any ability to sooth him.

"Can't you stay for a little longer?" the honey-blond god asked, giving the shadow god a lingering saddened expression. "Lord Xemnas isn't going to leave his court anytime soon."

"Every second counts Demyx," Zexion sighed. His eyes were closed so he could not see the face his companion was making. "Lord Squall is working hard in his own way. That doesn't mean I should be half-hearted with my method either."

"I know that… but…"

"You don't believe Lord Xemnas will dispel his curse out of pity."

"I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't think that way, but…"

"There's nothing to apologise for." Zexion sat up, opening his eyes. He didn't look at Demyx. "I know it seems like a foolish cause but maybe I can move him, just a small bit, towards mercy."

"Zexion…" Demyx moved from his spot, wrapping his arms around Zexion's smaller frame, letting his face getting buried into the shadow god's shoulder.

"Don't." The Kage no Kami's voice sounded strained. "Just please don't." The water god didn't respond and didn't let go. "You'll make it harder for me to leave…"

"Then don't leave. Or take me with you."

"You know both options aren't open to discussion. You're needed here, and I can't just drop my duties."

"Then… can you just stay here tonight?" Demyx asked quietly. "With me."

"…I can't win, can I?" Zexion turned slightly in the Mizu no Kami's hold. "I'll stay."

"Thank you." Soft-spoken. It wasn't a word that he would use to describe the water god who was as loud and as vibrant as a circus performer, but in private those gentler terms seemed so apt.

"I hope that my fears are unfounded though," Zexion murmured. "I don't really want to face the Souzou Shin." Demyx didn't say a word. "I just… I just don't know how to really get through to him. He seems so bitter…"

"He made no secret that he wanted to destroy the humans' world," Demyx muttered. "He and Lord Sephiroth wanted to." His hold became a little more possessive. "The fact that Lord Squall lead the charge against him would make him want to find some excuse to get petty retribution."

"Maybe," Zexion replied. "But he was, in a sense, right about punishing all three of them."

"You're taking his side…"

"I'm not." Zexion pulled away. "Think about it Demyx. Lady Rinoa should have never gone behind Lord Squall's back. And it's the same with Seifer too. Even if their feelings were genuine, she was married to Lord Squall. To have an affair is an insult to him as a god." His voice was raised lightly in anger; although he never said anything, Demyx was the only person who knew the bile that the shadow god had towards that human woman for her actions. "Lord Squall had every right to harm, even kill, Seifer for what he did, but a god is never allowed to hurt a human. She knew that. She knew that when she protected Seifer."

"I think you're being a little harsh on her."

"I'm not," Zexion replied grumpily.

"You're only angry because what she did put you in a difficult position."

"Sounds like you're taking her side."

"I'm not," Demyx chuckled. "I just know that's the reason you're so angry at her."

"Why is it you seem to be right about this…"

"Because I just am." He then let his hands bring the shadow god back to him, so that his back was pressed against his chest. "It can't be easy being torn between the man that sees you as his closest friend and the man that fathered you."

"…You'd think it'd be simple considering how me and Lord Xemnas aren't close at all." He looked into the water garden. "I should've done something…"

"You didn't know what happened was the result." Demyx let his chin rest against Zexion's shoulder. "So stop blaming yourself. In the end, you chose to follow Lord Squall and not your father."

"Was it the right choice though?" Zexion asked quietly, having a lingering doubt that he wanted the Mizu no Kami to dispel immediately.

"The humans may be many things, and capable of the worst sins, but destroying them shouldn't be the only option. We haven't the right to take their lives. We haven't even the right to harm a human." The answer was a comfort. "You made the right choice in my eyes, big brother."

That made the shadow god smile that rare quiet one that he sometimes let slip around Demyx. "You haven't called me that in years."

"Thought it might be a good time as any to say it now." The water god felt the shorter god slump in his hold. He had probably exhausted himself as usual again. It only made Demyx laugh quietly to himself. "Just rest up. You'll need your patience with Lord Xemnas."

* * *

Spending the day with Leon had been a bit like being taken around by a bodyguard. He was silent, only answered when he was spoken to, never struck up a conversation at all, and if anyone glanced at them and made to speak they were given a withering glare from the hotoke. Cloud was getting to a point where he was growing more frustrated with _him_ than with Squall.

Introverted and unfriendly. Just like Squall. They really were like peas in a pod. But then again, there were some times that he could see a difference between them. For one, despite his previous misgivings, Leon was a very attentive companion who always made sure that he was fine and also held a vast knowledge of all the places within Arashi no Rakuen that could rival Paine's. He also seemed to know just what would appeal to him, especially after that night with the hitodama in the Dragon Garden.

Right now, they were walking along the beach, Leon offhandedly commenting about the oni problem the human had caused. Cloud had given him a sharp witty statement about his lack of appearance at the scene considering he had proven that a hotoke like him wasn't limited by nocturnal hours. It only elicited a dry chuckle. "Fair point."

Wet sand shifted under his geta as they walked along the line where land and sea met, leaving a trail of their stroll. The tide was out so their footprints would stand proud for a long while. He then looked out to the horizon, stopping in his tracks. Leon gave him a quizzical look as he halted himself. "What is it?"

"Is there another land beyond the sea?" Cloud wondered idly. "Or is this place just one solitary island and miles of ocean."

"The latter," Leon answered. "It's just a small world that is separate from the bigger world you humans live in." He looked out beyond the horizon. "A world we can't really be a part of."

"I thought you would be."

"I was born here so I can't leave. Seishins can go to all the worlds, and gods of the kishi rank can come and go between the god realms if they choose to."

"What about gods of Squall's rank?"

"A long time ago they could go anywhere they wanted to. Then… there was a conflict." Cloud turned to face Leon, seeing that there was a distant look on his face. "That changed everything."

"What happened?"

"…That's a story for another time."

"Leon… you're the only person that can tell me what's going on. Every other person that somehow even mentions this 'conflict' skirts around it like its some sort of bad smell," Cloud said, giving him a insisting look. "At least summarise what happened."

Leon sighed quietly, letting his arms cross over each other. "There was an altercation between Squall and the Souzou Shin. They haven't got the best relationship, but… well, something happened that concerned his private life and the Souzou Shin got involved." His gaze was steadily keeping to the horizon. "A god is never allowed to harm a human…"

"Squall didn't-"

"Wouldn't have harmed that woman. But… she didn't love him the same way he loved her." Cloud watched Leon's face, seeing that it had faltered slightly. "He was going to take what he believed was his right, but she threw herself in front of him… to protect her lover." Leon turned away from the horizon. "Now you know the basic outline of that time."

"What about the conflict? What was that about?" Cloud frowned. "It couldn't have been just about that."

"That's not something worth talking about."

"It is. I don't want to be the only one who doesn't know what everyone's so-"

"You're human. You wouldn't understand," Leon interrupted, giving him a warning glare. For a moment, Cloud thought he had seen that same look on Squall's face. "So stop asking into it."

"But-"

"I mean it!" Leon started walking away. "…Squall will probably want you back now. Let's just get home." Cloud stayed still for a moment, before following the hotoke. They were silent all the way back to the palace gates, and Leon soon disappeared without a word.

Just what was it about this past conflict that no one wanted to speak about it?


	6. Muiban no Monogatari

**A/N:** Holy Robin Eggs on a Stick, I can't believe how long its been since I updated at all! I blame Real Life. It hijacked my soul. Just like getting this chapter out did *slump* 100 KB... One freaking hundred kilobytes... that's got to be a new record for me. Plus what's annoyed me recently is the fact that I don't get emails from Fanfiction anymore... I don't know why though; I changed my email accounts as well and got the message then. Guess it's back to checking the site everyday for reviews.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who read and reviewed this so far despite what seemed to have been an issue with the site's main server. I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!

* * *

He hadn't seen Leon in a long while since that time spent together on order by Squall, leaving Cloud pondering over what he had done and said during that time. It was clear to him that whatever happened in the past, this conflict everyone never spoke of in front of him at the very least, had effected maybe everyone that lived in these sacred realms. Even so, Leon had been the only one who seemed to have a sort of personal connection. And the more he thought about it, the more he came to understand that he knew nothing of any of these gods and creatures. Paine had some slip of the tongue moments but they were few and far between. On the one of only few times he came across Yuffie, she told him that she knew very little of what had happened all those years ago; Squall never opened up to her about it. He sometimes saw Demyx and Larxene, but neither were willing to impart information, especially anything concerning Leon.

Eventually, the information he sought for came from a source he never expected.

"Leon lost two very important people because of that conflict."

He was staring straight at the bizarre sight. Axel was perched like a bird of prey on the bough of a tree, green eyes looking to pierce right through the human's soul. He never noticed until now, but there was definitely something very birdlike about the fire god's body. Maybe it was the entirely bizarrely slim form that on rare occasions the bones could be distinguished, or the way he carried himself. Whatever it was, Cloud couldn't quite pin down. "Friends?"

"Something like that," Axel replied. He jumped down, landing with incredibly balance on the decking that Cloud was standing on. "What made it worse was that he found out a little bit after that one of them was pregnant so he feels he could've done things differently."

No wonder it had been such a sore subject… "I guess this conflict… claimed a lot of lives…"

"Yeah," Axel nodded, looking away slightly. "It's something no one ever wants to live through again." He had that distant look in his eyes. "It's something I don't want to ever have to experience again."

"…if it isn't too much… could you tell me what happened?"

Axel turned to face him. "You might want to sit down. It's going to take a while."

"Alright." Cloud sat along the edge; Axel joined him. Silence reigned supreme for a while, only to be broken by a large sigh from the fire god. He hadn't once made eye contact.

"Well, once upon a time…" he began, his hands clasped together. "Your world, the world of the humans, was only a few thousand years old. The Souzou Shin may have created you, but the Arashi no Kami, the Shizen no Megami and the Sukai Shin were the ones that cared and raised you like their own. Even if you humans transgressed, they were willing to forgive. Even if humans were punished, there was still room for repentance. But they couldn't take on the world all on their own so we were created; the Nii-jyuu Youso no Kami. Some of us were created by nature alone, while others were nurtured and born like any other human. It was our job to help the ryoushu look after your world in whatever way we were born to do. For a long while, we were quite comfortable in our way. Could even say we became more and more like a large family."

"What changed?"

"Squall saved that woman. That was the beginning of the end for our peaceful existence."

"That woman who was accused of being witch?"

"Yes. But she really was a witch. No… she was an enchantress. Powerful as well. So powerful that it terrified her fellow humans. Squall became fond of her since she seemed to be the only human who regularly prayed to him. Not even for rain or stormy weather. She sometimes just wanted someone to talk to!" He chuckled dryly, amused by the notion. "Even though the rest of humankind shunned her, as soon as she became a part of our world, there wasn't a single god or servant that didn't like her. Some liked her a little too much for their own good."

"So she fell in love with someone else?"

"That's about it. Squall's the jealous type though, so you can tell it didn't sit well with him. What made it worse was that it was his koukennin that she had fallen in love with, and he felt the same way too. For Squall, that was the ultimate betrayal. So like any wounded idiot he went about trying to get some justice for it. Stupid fool let his emotions get the better of him."

"And because he lost his temper, that woman got hurt."

"And that was all the Souzou Shin needed. By that point he and the Shi no Kami had come to hate the humans so he looked for any excuse to destroy them. Squall gave him that reason. So they punished all three of them and turned their attentions to your world, which in turn made the three ryoushu and us of the Nii-jyuu Youso no Kami retaliate. We must have fought for two hundred years. Two bloody hundred years."

Cloud looked at his hands, noticing that the fire god's bony fingers were shaking uncontrollably. Some lingering anger from that time perhaps.

"It only stopped…" Axel whispered, his voice trembling with that rage Cloud had correctly identified, "because Roxas died."

That had completely floored the human. He knew gods were by no means immortal, just invulnerable to most things that might kill a human or creature, but what Axel had said had turned that fact on its head. "Roxas… died? But he's… he's right here! He's alive right now!"

"It's not so simple," Axel shook his head, taking deep breaths before continuing. "Roxas was killed… trying to protect me. And because he died, the sun began to go out of control so I and a few hi no seishin had to try to subdue it before it utterly burned down all of the realms. No mean feat I can tell you, because when Roxas died… all the yoake no seishin died with him. Without them, that sun becomes unbearable." He was still shaking; Cloud was almost at the point to tell him to stop talking about it. "So now we're all in a truce, pretending to be happy families even though we've had to watch Roxas reincarnate. I've had to raise him, protect him, make sure he's always under constant supervision because… I'm terrified of losing him again…"

"Axel…"

"…I don't want pity…"

"I don't think I can ever imagine that sort of pain you had to go through… or the pain Leon, Squall, or anyone else had because of that war… but I know how it feels to lose someone you love." Cloud looked down, feeling a sort of guilt gnaw away at him. "I had to watch my mother wither away… even though I would have done anything to cure her of her illness."

"That's a pain I'm not privileged to," Axel muttered, but he seemed to appreciate the sentiment. "But… I guess it's just as painful to see someone die slowly." He leaned back slightly onto his arms. "Have you come to terms with your mother's death?" he asked quietly.

"Honestly, it was hard because I felt like I hadn't done enough to save her. But after a while…" Cloud looked up at the sky. The sun was bright, white fluffy clouds floating along the pure blue sky. "I realised that she looked relieved… she wasn't in pain anymore. And… no matter how much I want to deny it, I think she was ready to die."

"…you humans really are amazing," Axel murmured, a sad smile gracing his features. "The Souzou Shin was mad to ever think about destroying you…" He then stood up. "Give Leon and Squall a chance."

"Huh?" Cloud blinked, surprised by the sudden change in mood.

"They're both equally as damaged, and they're both equally as hard-headed and socially awkward. Just let them open up on their own accord. You might be surprised by the results." He turned, his face grinning in that way that was so much more familiar. The jokester god was back. "Besides, they wouldn't be trying so hard if they didn't like you." He began walking away. "See ya blondie."

* * *

Axel turned the corner into one of the many, many walkways of the palace. Roxas was leaning against one of the beams that supported the second floor. Clearly he had been waiting for him, but his usual smiling face was utterly blank. The Hi no Kami, for lack of a better term, was a little unnerved by that. "What's up?"

"Is it true?"

And then it clicked. He sighed heavily. "How much did you hear?"

"All of it," Roxas whispered, keeping his eyes firmly locked on Axel's face. The redheaded one just managed to retain eye contact. "So…"

"…Yeah. It's true. I lost you once already." Axel felt like a total fool now for not telling this to the sun god face to face first. "I don't want a repeat of it ever again." He nearly flinched when a he felt a hand on his upper arm.

"Was it… painful?" he asked tentatively.

"…do you want the honest answer?" The sun god nodded in confirmation. "It was hell. Watching you die, making sure you reincarnated, watching over you while you grew up… I never got over your death, but I couldn't reach out and speak to you while you were living like a human." His lips thinned considerably.

"And is that why… we weren't as close as we used to be?" He noted that slight tremble in the younger god's voice. It killed him to know that he had hurt him just a tiny bit.

"Give me a little more time," Axel whispered. "I know you've been waiting a long time but… I'm just not ready yet…"

And with that, Roxas just retreated into his arms. And as expected, Axel just accepted him. Like he always had done. They both knew that this was just pretence in their relationship; something that once existed but didn't exist anymore.

* * *

Squall was in his adult form, fuming away angrily even after releasing a few sea storms into the human world. He knew that Aerith would have a go at him for taking out his frustration on their charge, but he was beyond caring by this point. Cause for his current mood: blond, blue-eyed and bloody stubborn mule of an attendant.

"Frowning leaves wrinkles on yer brow," Cid suddenly cut in. He was sitting by the balcony attached to Squall's study, smoking away on his long ornate pipe. Squall shot him a glare as he shrunk back into his child form.

"Look at the pot calling the kettle black," he shot back sharply, flouncing behind his desk and furiously scribbling on the paper pile Zexion had left him. Latest prays for rain. He wasn't in a mood to listen to a bunch of needy _children_.

"Don't take it out on the humans," Cid sighed, shaking his head. "Y'll be just as bad as Xemnas."

"I feel like I ought to be as bad as that _bastard_," Squall scowled. "Bunch of stubborn… self-serving little…"

"Are ya still sore about Cloud?"

"Don't be ridiculous," he scoffed.

"Really? Because I haven't seen ya this riled up since that Rinoa/Seifer incident." Cid didn't even bat an eyelid at the stiffening of the storm god's body, having seen this a mile off and knowing exactly how to stop any possible repercussions. "Any fool can see that he's hit a nerve and that's pissed ya off."

"And even if it has 'pissed me off', it's a sensitive subject. Anyone could make that mistake of even whispering it around me."

"Oh ho, so ya wouldn't just summon an electrical storm and smite the poor bugger that dares to mention it." Squall didn't even respond. "My thoughts exactly." He took a long drag of his pipe. "So tell me, how long d'ya plan to give him the cold shoulder?"

"Long enough," the boy muttered, looking at a prayer scroll as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. Cid knew better; Squall's attitude towards prayer scrolls was that he couldn't be bothered to deal with such petty pleas such as striking down a mortal enemy, of which there was many.

"Ya do realise that ya don't have time fer acting so childish, right?" Once again, Squall stiffened. "Don't take me fer an idiot. I was there when ya got cursed. I understood what that curse meant. _I practically __**wrote**__ the human language_." He watched as the child god seemed to shrink behind his desk. "I can make it so much easier fer ya by telling Zexion and the rest how to break it."

"…it's humiliating," Squall grumbled.

"So ya wanna do it yerself?"

"I got myself into this mess. I'll get myself out of it."

"Doing a fine job of it," Cid scoffed, shaking his head. "Lighten up and get that stick outta yer ass. Yer gonna confuse the poor boy." Squall resolutely stayed silence. "Alright, ya asked fer it."

"Asked…for what?" Squall asked carefully. He damn near jumped when Cid began translating the curse into their language.

"Like a fragile flower that lasts only a summer,  
Thou body shall crumble, wilt and wi-"

"Stop!" Squall shrieked, standing up suddenly. "Not so loud!" Cid only laughed uproariously at the total uncharacteristic yelp that had come out of the boy god. Squall frowned heavily. "Fine…fine, you win."

"I knew I'd win this battle," Cid smirked lopsidedly. "Now get yer ass out there and starting making up fer lost time!" He looked out and pointed to something. "Cloud's right there."

* * *

Cloud had been helping Sora and Riku with their chores, but his mind was still mulling over what Axel had told him. Yoake no seishin had all but been wiped out the moment Roxas -the previous Roxas- was killed. That meant that if that were to happen -hell, if something were to happen to the Chikyuu no Kami- that would affect his newfound friends.

Friends. Huh. So this was what it was like to have friends.

"You alright Cloud?" Sora questioned, his sky-hued eyes glittering quizzically.

"Hmm…? Oh, yeah. I'm fine." He returned to sweeping. Riku and Sora shared glances.

"Really? You seem a little distant today," Riku pointed out.

"Mm…"

"Did something happen?" Sora prodded him lightly. Cloud rather flimsily brushed him off.

"Just thinking," Cloud sighed. He had a lot to think about.

"So Leon hasn't made an appearance yet," Sora smiled. Was he being sympathetic?

"I think it'll be a while."

"Don't know why you put up with him if he's this ridiculously uptight," Sora glowered, all of a sudden mad on Cloud's behalf. He was like that. He had a tendency to experience emotions that the injured party should have been feeling. Cloud guess he ought to have been mad at Leon, but really he was more confused. "I mean, he sounds like a total jerk if he just blows you off for days then suddenly starts acting like everything is fine when he does decide to give you some attention. What kind of a guy does that to his friend?-!" Were they friends? Cloud wasn't sure; Leon wasn't the easiest of people to understand. There was still so much he didn't know about the hotoke. "Ooooo! It just makes me so angry to think there's someone leading you on like that!"

Riku, throughout the whole tirade, had been oddly quiet.

"He's not so bad," Cloud muttered, attention still on keeping this particular part of the walkway clear of dust. He must've been at it for ten minutes. It was almost on the verge of being utterly spotless, if a bit buffeted. "You haven't even met him."

"I know enough to not like him!" Sora yowled.

"That's your opinion," Cloud stated monotonously. "But I won't let it influence how I think."

"Then what do you think of him?" Sora probed.

"He might have the most horrible personality I've come across but…" Cloud paused, remembering that time when Leon took him to see the hitodama, and the time that he spent the whole day with him (even if it was on orders). And despite his flaws, he really did like the good qualities that he did have. Even if there were very few of them. "He is a good person deep down."

"That's reassuring." Cloud's body jolted as if he had been struck by lightning. He turned, and found himself staring straight into the intense grey-blue eyes of Leon. The air was thick with tension, so thick in fact that one could cut it with a knife. Sora and Riku were very silent, though the yoake no seishin made to speak. The silver-haired one quickly covered his mouth to stifle whatever he was about to say. Leon had barely given them a glance. "…can I talk to you tonight?"

Cloud had nearly all forgotten about his two friends watching this unfold. "…You may."

"Good," he replied. He then finally looked over to the two seishin; they immediately returned to their work, as if fearful for their lives. He looked back to Cloud. "I'll see you later." He brushed past; Cloud swore he felt the tips of the hotoke's fingers sweep against the sleeve of his gii. For some reason, his stomach seemed to be fluttering because of it, even though he felt like there was no reason to.

"So… looks like he isn't angry with you anymore," Riku smiled knowingly.

"I guess not," Cloud faintly said. He was a little surprised by what had happened himself, having never expected the hotoke to come looking for him. If anything he had hoped that maybe they'd run into each other; he would have apologised for his insensitivity then. The more he thought about it, the more it sank that something felt very odd. His hands tightened around the broom handle.

"I still think he's awful," Sora glowered, returning back to his wiping and waxing of the floor. "For being like that." He yelped as his companion gave him a slap across the head.

"Be nice," Riku scolded, then looked over to Cloud. "So, are you going to apologise to him?"

"Would make sense to."

"What do you think he wants to talk about?"

"It's Leon," Cloud began, "He could want to talk about anything. I don't really know him as well as maybe he knows me." He knew that he often talked about his life in his home world. There was no secret about it at all; there was nothing to hide. "To be honest… he really is like a shadow. He just pops up when he feels like it, but at the same time…" He trailed off, thinking what he was about to say would sound strange.

"But at the same time…?" Sora goaded.

"At the same time, you sort of feel like he's following you, watching your every move. He feels like he's always nearby, but you just don't see him." He frowned. "It's weird, isn't it?"

"We've heard stranger things," Riku assured him, standing up from the spot he had been wiping clean. "I mean, there was one time a ningyo fell in love with a tsukumogami. No one was really sure how it worked considering one of them was really a household object that suddenly gained a soul by the time it turned a hundred and the other has to spend most of her time in the water or else she was just going to dry up." He tilted his head. "Actually… how did that work?"

"The point Riku is trying to make," Sora sighed, realising his friend was going to spend the next few moments trying to figure out how such a relationship could exist, "is that what you might think is strange is pretty normal for us. You really shouldn't worry." He then smiled chirpily. "But if Leon starts toying with you, I'm going to find a way to hurt him."

"Sora!" Riku chided, brought out of his thoughtful trance. He glanced apologetically at Cloud. "He won't toy with you. Sora's just being overprotective."

"I'm not being overprotective!"

Cloud just returned to work, smiling inwardly to himself. He appreciated the concern; it was more than he ever got from the village he had lived in.

"Cloud! There you are!" He turned, and saw that it was Yuffie and Paine.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Master wanted you to see him," Paine replied.

"He should be in his study right now," Yuffie informed him. "Just remember to bow when you get in. Lord Cid's in there as well."

"Thanks for the warning," Cloud nodded. He turned to face the two seishin. "Will you two be alright finishing this off?"

"Don't worry about us," Riku stated. "Don't keep Lord Squall waiting."

Happy with that answer, he put the broom in his hand against the wall for them to use and began to walk towards the storm god's study, said god's koukennin in tow. Paine excused herself, having said she had more messages to deliver. Cloud didn't realise the winks being shared between the sprite messenger and the koukennin.

* * *

Still at the spot, smoke billowing out of his pipe in grey wisps, the Sukai Shin had watched the whole thing unfold before him. Pleased that all had gone well, he didn't move as the adult form of the storm god swung himself back into the study, shrinking back to childlike appearance as soon as he touched the floor. "It's done," Squall grumbled, giving _him_ a glare with large grey-blue eyes.

"Don't glare at me. I'm doing you a favour."

"You practically blackmailed me!" Squall was indignant, having felt like Cid just threatened whatever dignity that might have been spared since his curse was placed upon him. The Sukai Shin knew that the real reason was that Squall didn't like being pushed in a direction he might have been going in at his own speed. This was one such case.

"Now don't be like that," Cid chided lightly. "If I didn't point ya in the right direction, you and Cloud would still not be on speaking terms."

"…I guess," he grumbled.

"Now, he should be here any minute now so look busy if you don't want him to put two and two together."

"You don't need to tell me that." The storm god scuttled over to his desk, rolling up the prayer scrolls that he already finished signing. It was just about then that both heard someone kneeling on the other side of the sliding door.

"You wanted to see me Squall?"

"Yeah. Come in." The door slid open, and Cloud came in, closing the door behind him. He bowed his head to Cid in the corner before kneeling in front of the little god's desk. Squall looked at him, as if trying to gauge something about the human, which only earned him a perplexed expression from the blond. "Alright, I think you can do this."

"…Do what?" Cloud asked carefully, raising a blond brow. Squall pushed forward a pile of rolled up scrolls towards the blond.

"These are extremely important documents and I need you to get them to Fuujin and Raijin. You can find them at the Storm Altar."

"The Storm Altar? Where is that?"

"Yuffie, are you outside?"

"Present!" the koukennin replied through the sliding door.

"Escort Cloud to the altar. Tell Fuujin and Raijin that I sent him as my representative." Squall then glanced over to Cloud; the blond could tell that the little god was anxious, but it wasn't clear if it was over him or over the scrolls. "Don't let me down Cloud. Those scrolls are important for your world."

Cloud nodded his head, taking the scrolls into his arms and standing up slowly. "I understand."

"Good. Get going." The blond just bowed his head slightly before walking out, he didn't even glance back as he slid the door behind him. Squall just deflated, frowning heavily. "So… that went well."

"If by 'well' ya mean 'still treating him like a servant while yer in child form', then yeah, I'd say that went 'well'," Cid commented. "Still, it's interesting to see that ya allow him to call ya by yer name and not with an honorific."

"Let me make one thing clear Cid." His young face scrunched up like an old man's when he was frowning heavily. "Cloud's doing admirably in trying to understand how these realms work. He'd never accept the fact that me and his 'Leon' are the same person." He looked away. "And paired up with the chance that he may find out that… that it was his mother involved in what happened to me and Seifer… it's hopeless." He flinched when he felt a kick to his head. "Ow!" Rikku, the Sukai Shin's hyperactive sprite messenger, was grinning like a court fool, hands on her tiny hips.

"Never say never! That's what Master always says!" she beamed. Squall gave her a withering glare.

"You put her up to this…"

"Naturally," Cid smirked. "Ya need a kick in the head sometimes, and Rikku's got the foot size for it."

And naturally, the Sukai Shin felt like the little god needed it. He may have tried to suppress it, but he knew that Squall was becoming desperate to break this curse not for his sake, but for everyone who lived in Arashi no Rakuen and the human world. It was up to him now; he'd given the bump on the head needed for the Arashi no Kami to get on with it.

* * *

"Soooooo," Yuffie drawled, hop skipping alongside Cloud's long strides. "Looks like lil' Squallie trusts you a lot."

"What makes you say that?" Cloud asked. The whole dialogue had confused him somewhat, because he honestly thought that Squall had something important to say, not a job for him. Maybe he had been too hopeful. Or maybe he had misinterpreted Squall's intentions. When he thought about it though, both suggestions went hand in hand.

"Well he never lets anyone touch the prayer scrolls," Yuffie explained. "They're too important in his eyes to trust anyone to take them to Fuu and Rai. That makes you the exception." Cloud looked at her with a disbelieving look. "What? It's true!"

"You're accompanying me though."

"Only because you've never been to the Storm Altar." Yuffie then pointed straight ahead of her. "Speaking of which, there it is now."

Cloud followed to where she was pointing… then felt his eyes widen in surprise. The Storm Altar, which was an extension of the cliff based Hanging Garden, comprised of a long steep stone stairway that was covered in foliage and tangling vines. At the bottom was a red torii, a gateway between the divine and human realms, and at the top was its counterpart only embellished heavily with gold. What was beyond that gateway was hidden under a leafy canopy of tree boughs and green conifer leaves. "This is it?"

"Yup. Fuu and Rai should be waiting for us at the top." Yuffie began running up, turning around for a second to look at Cloud who was just reaching the bottom step. "Come on! Keep up!" He just shook his head but followed after the energetic immortal, watching as the torii at the top grew larger in size the closer they got. His legs were already aching by the time he reached the middle, but stubborn determination forced him onwards. Yuffie on the other hand seemed unable to tire.

As they reached the top, Cloud eyes fell upon yet another gateway, only this time two painted wooden figures guarded the pillars, still steaming clouds of thunder and lightning surrounding their fearsome demonic forms. Yuffie stood in between them, outstretching her hand to stop Cloud from walking further. The human gave her a puzzled look. "What is it?"

"We need to wake them."

"Wake… whom?"

Yuffie ignored his question staring at both demons. "Fuujin, Raijin, time to wake up!"

From the wooden status, splits of glowing light, one coloured blue and the other amber, appeared like the seam between dream and reality. As they widened, two figures stepped through. From the blue, a young woman, with silvery hair, a sharp piercing eye –her other was covered by a black eyepatch and dressed in a blue silk jacket with storm clouds embroidered in shimmering silver and creamy three-quarter length trousers, stepped through. From the amber, a man with skin coloured like mahogany wood, black hair, dark eyes and rippling mucles, clothed similarly to his companion only his jacket was red, the sleeves were torn and the embroidery was of golden lightning strikes, placed a heavy boot out of his portal. Cloud wondered who on earth these people were…

Then he remembered the story of Arashi no Kami. Storms may have come from him, but he relied on the help of the Zanki Fuujin and Raijin to create thunder and lightning. Yuffie grinned at the pair of them. "New orders from Squall. People of the North have been praying for rain for a long time now so he's figured its time to give them some."

"The same people that got a long drought because some priest started up some false cult, y'know?" The tall man demanded.

"Why?" the woman asked, tilting her head in question.

"The cult's fallen through since their so-called rain deity didn't deliver," Yuffie reported. "Squall's pretty certain his point has been made now, so he's sparing the rod."

"Too kind," the woman muttered.

"He's got the right idea though Fuu," Yuffie pointed out. "I may not like it myself, but humans really can be childish. So it's up to the gods to discipline them when they behave out of line." She then smiled. "Anyway, let's get going and fulfil these prayers." She pushed Cloud along. "Oh, and this is Cloud, Squall's new attendant."

"Human?"

"What, he got a new one? He's making this into a habit, y'know."

"I _hardly_ believe that saving a third human and bringing him here makes it a habit," Yuffie retorted. "Now are you guys going to take us to the altar or not?"

The two Zanki shared a glance, as if considering the order, before finally jumping down from their statues, Fuu's right arm and Rai's left arm glowing in their opposing colours. In Rai's hand was a large war hammer, while in Fuu's there was a large charkram, though it looked entirely different to the pair Axel wielded. Yuffie smiled, taking out her impossibly large shuriken from its holster around her tiny waist.

Cloud, for a moment, wished he had something to protect himself with. "I'm guessing it's dangerous?" he finally asked.

"Very," Fuu replied.

"Loads of Heartless oni, y'know."

"Well, they say that, but it's really not that bad," Yuffie grinned. "Just make sure you don't attract momma Heartless, ok?"

"Attract?" Fuu questioned. Cloud just slapped his hand to his forehead.

"Do you have to remind me of that?"

"Yes," Yuffie answered. "After all, you've got something that they want. Travelling with you in this area is gonna be a lot more troublesome than usual."

"Exaggerating…" Fuu muttered.

"Am not!"

"So there might be a little more than usual. Nothing we can't handle, y'know," Rai cheerfully quipped. The two Zanki walked through the gateway, passing through an invisible wall that glistened as they passed. "C'mon. We haven't got all day, y'know."

* * *

Cloud began to believe in the monosyllabic Zanki when she stated monotonously that Yuffie was over exaggerating the facts. Through out the shaded walk down the ever so slightly overgrown path, they had only a few scuffles which the two Zanki and the koukennin dealt with. Even then, the oni in question were merely small shadows compared to that large one that Squall had fought days before. At the thought of it, his grip on the scrolls tightened. No matter how he looked at it, he still felt like the one at fault for what had happened.

"Stop thinking," Fuu stated suddenly, bringing Cloud out of his gloomy thought process.

"Huh?"

"She's right, y'know." Rai nodded his head sagely –or at least as sagely his hulking form could allow him to. "You think about what happened too much, you're just gonna make yourself depressed. Not healthy, y'know."

"Forget." Fuu was frowning. "Move on. Quit moping."

"Can't say you can argue with that kind of harsh logic," Yuffie smiled easily. "Besides, Squall's a tough cookie. It would have to take a pretty big oni to actually defeat him while he's in his true form."

"True form?" Cloud asked.

"Ah," Yuffie looked a little surprised. "I guess no one's explained that to you yet, huh." She then looked at the two Zanki. "Fuu, Rai, do you guys mind keeping an eye out for oni while I explain this to Cloud?"

"It's our job, y'know," Rai shrugged. Fuu rolled her visible eye and said nothing.

Yuffie turned her attention back to the human. "Alright. In our world -you know, the human world- we weren't far off on what we believed the gods are. Some of the gods don't naturally own human appearances. They've been born with the capacity to take one on so that when, once upon a time, they were allowed to move around in the human world, they could go wherever they pleased without being recognised." She crossed her arms. "In Squallie's case, that's the lion-headed dragon us humans usually associate him with. But he only uses that form in extreme circumstances because that's a measure of his full power."

"So do all of the gods have that kind of power?"

"Depends on how they came about. I mean, Axel's really a phoenix." Cloud nearly faltered at that. Yuffie grinned. "Couldn't you tell? He's _way_ too bony to be human."

"I guess I noticed he was a little birdlike…"

"Well, I guess you could say he was a special case. His dad was a phoenix but his mom was human. But he was really unstable so the ryoushu and the original five of the Ni-Jyuu Kami had to step in. Then Roxas was originally born from a golden drop of sun just to keep Axel in line when he began to flare up again." Yuffie then broke into thought as she tried to remember. "But I think he mentioned growing up as a human." She nodded in confirmation of that fact when she was sure of it. "And then you've got Xaldin who is a smaller dragon, and Lexaeus is really a large black tortoise. The list goes on!"

"Oni!" Fuu suddenly yelled.

"Whoa baby, this is a whopper for these parts!" Rai took his hammer into a battle stance, letting it rest against his shoulders.

Yuffie turned, eyes widening as a relatively large looking shadowy oni came lolloping towards them; although not as big as the oni mother from the other day, it was clear what its intentions was. She grabbed her shuriken, prepared to fight. "Cloud, I need you to run for it as soon as we jump it. The Altar isn't too far away from here." She looked tense, rocking on the balls of her feet.

"Here it comes!" Rai warned.

"RAGE!" Fuu screeched, tossing her chakram. It hit the shadowy creature in the arm, making it howl in pain.

"Cloud! Go!" The blond needn't have been told twice as he darted straight past the creature, clutching to the scrolls tightly as he ran along the straight and narrow path to the Storm Altar, his geta clacking against the hewn stone as it briefly skimmed over the ground like a bird over the water's surface. A few times he stumbled but he quickly recovered, adrenaline fuelling his desire to outrun the dangers that were possibly following him.

* * *

Further away, a man was tutting in disdain. "Figures that even someone with only a fragment of his paternal heritage can still attract Heartless in those kind of numbers." He stood up from his perch on a tall red torii that was only a few feet away from the running human. "Good thing I decided to get ahead of them." He jumped, summoning a long, thick silver blade with a curling hilt in his hand. Like a lion ready to pounce on its prey, he dashed towards the group running towards him.

* * *

Cloud felt his chest begin to clench as he saw the red torii looming in the distance, hearing the clicking and clacking of the Heartless oni behind him only a few paces away. His geta slapped against the heels on his feet when they weren't stamping against the stone path, his legs were beginning to seize up a little from all the running and climbing he had done in such a small space of time. But the adrenaline kept him running forwards, the unwillingness to fail his bratty host so that he could avoid being yelled at by the boy god spurring him on. So focused was he, that Cloud yelled in shock as he felt his geta collide with a raised stone in the path forcing him to momentarily flounder in the air.

With the sound of wind escaping his stomach as he landed roughly on the floor, scrolls rolling from his hands, he tried to pick himself up when from the corner of his eye he saw that the Heartless oni that had given in to the chase were about to pounce on him. He shut his eyes tightly, lifting an arm up as if to protect himself.

An oni scream accompanied the sound of a metallic whistle and cut through the air and flesh. Cloud shakily opened an eye, letting his arm fall very hesitantly only the smallest bit. "Le…on?"

The first thing that sprang to mind was what in the world was the hotoke doing here? Had Squall ordered him to look out for him? Or was he here of his own free will?

"What are you waiting for? Run!" Leon snapped at him, holding a steady, battle-ready stance as the oni fidgeted around, waiting for an opening.

"What about you?-!" Cloud demanded.

"These creatures are just pests. They should feel honoured I'm even dealing with them." Leon's grey eye glared at him. "Now get going!"

The blond was quick to his feet, but with a hesitant glance, he reluctantly ran away. But this isn't unusual, he had thought, I'm always running away in some way. The thought was painful; he wished he was able to do something other than cause trouble. He wished he could help in someway that wouldn't make him feel so useless. He knew Yuffie and Leon would say that him getting to safety would be considered helpful, but he didn't see it that way.

He clutched those scrolls to his chest tightly as the torii seemed to grow closer and closer, forcing his legs to continue running forward. So close. So utterly close.

* * *

Like he had said, these smaller oni were just mere pests to someone like him when he was in his preferred adult form. But the adult storm god, masquerading as a lowly hotoke, still couldn't help but feel some sort of concern for the blond human. Maybe he should've gone with him, just to be extra sure that he had made it to the Altar safely. Though that would mean having to talk to Cloud earlier than anticipated. He wasn't quite ready for that.

"Squall?-! Is that you?-!" He turned his head, watching as his koukennin and two Zanki approached him. Yuffie looked flustered, Rai looked as energetic as ever and Fuu… well, Fuu was being her usual calm self.

"Who else would I be?" he answered monotonously, flicking the black shadowy blood off his blade. "Cloud should be safe at the Altar already. When you've handed over the prayer scrolls, I want you to open a portal back to the palace rather than walk back this way."

"Understood," Fuu nodded.

"I guess, but this is really weird, y'know," Rai commented. "I mean, oni had never been a problem until now."

Squall frowned, then looked over to Yuffie. She seemed to want to know some answers as well. "Squallie… it's possible that the oni don't want to try and eat you now. Is Cloud's heart that powerful?"

"…Possibly," he answered vaguely.

"Y'know something, y'know!"

"…Let's just say Cloud is one of the results of what happened all those years ago." He looked at his adult hand, clenching it tightly. "Maybe the only good thing to come out of it."

"Seifer?" Fuu asked quietly. Squall nodded his head.

"The more I look at him, the more I'm convinced."

"Then Lady Rinoa is…"

"Not a word must be said about this," Squall lowly ordered. "Especially not to Cloud. This knowledge is too much for him to deal with right now." He dismissed his exotic weapon in a electric wisp of cloud. "And… I'd rather he heard it coming from me than from anyone else."

"Understood," Fuu whispered, bowing her head lightly. Rai reluctantly followed her example, but Yuffie did not. Squall knew she didn't agree to this, but she had no choice but to follow his orders. He brushed past them slowly.

"Not a word Yuffie. Not a word," he re-itinerated. He disappeared into the shadows, but he still felt the temptation to turn back and make sure Cloud was alright.

* * *

Cloud waited, prayer scrolls still held tight in his arms, under the red beam of the torii. It felt like it had been way too long see he had last seen Yuffie and the two Zanki, and Leon had yet to make an appearance. He tried not to let his imagination get the better of him… but the thought that any of them could be hurt weighed heavily on his mind.

"Oi! Cloudster!" He looked up at the sound, a sense of relief washing over him as he saw Yuffie and the two Zanki approach. Yuffie was running to him, grabbing his shoulders and checking to see if he wasn't injured. "Thank the stars… you're not injured."

"What about you three?" Cloud asked.

"Fit as a fiddle, y'know," Rai grinned. Fuu just nodded her head solemnly, as if to say that she appreciated the concern.

"Scrolls?" she asked. Cloud held them out to her just as Yuffie stepped away from him. The silver-haired Zanki took them into her arms and walked forwards past him. "Come."

"Huh?" Cloud blinked, a bit surprised that their job wasn't completed just yet.

"There's a reason why Squallie wanted you to do this job," Yuffie grinned, taking his wrist and dragging him along. "He wanted you to meet Ramuh and Quetzie."

"Ramuh? Quetzie?"

"Hey, his real name is Quetzcoatl y'know," Rai corrected the energetic koukennin.

Cloud had never heard either of those names before, but they sounded so strange to him. "Who are they?"

"Well you know Bahamut powers Lord Cid's flying city," Yuffie started the explanation. "Ramuh and Quetzie supply power to Arashi no Rakuen as well as charge up storms for the human world."

Yet another batch of stairs, but the top was visible, where a stone platform overlooking into the deepest part of the forest stood. As they stood at the top, Cloud looked around for signs of the mysterious Ramuh and Quetzcoatl.

"Lord Ramuh. Lord Quetzcoatl," Fuu called for, surprising Cloud as she spoke more fluently. "Arashi no Kami summons you both."

There was a change in the wind, and the trees seemed to part as a strange sight approached them. A large, golden yellow bird with no face, no legs and no feathers, with strange blue symbols marked on its shiny, stream-lined body was flying towards them, a withered but also surprisingly intimidating old bald man dressed in long dark purple robes of some foreign land sitting atop the faceless bird's head, long seemingly electrocuted white beard trailing in the wind and total black eyes staring at the group. He held a large gnarled wooden staff with a globe of glowing gold sitting atop it in his hand, the staff brimming with electricity that could be felt in the atmosphere. Cloud's eyes widened in shock. He jumped when he felt Yuffie's elbow nudge his side.

"The old geezer is Ramuh and the bird is Quetzie. The old geezer's a stickler for manners so be polite if and when he speaks to you."

"R-Right," Cloud stammered. When he looked back, he saw that Rai was helping the old man down from his perch, while the bird once it was free came waddling over to them using its long tail to propel itself. The large faceless creature stopped in front of Cloud and Yuffie, lowering its head and appearing to inspect them. Yuffie grinned brightly.

"Hey there Quetzie! This is Cloud, Squallie's new attendant. Be nice to him." 'Quetzie' tilted its head slightly, then began brushing where it's beak should have been against Cloud's hair, seeming to nuzzle it. Cloud kept totally still so not to aggravate the large bird. Yuffie giggled. "I think he likes you Cloud. It took me a long time to get Quetzie to trust me like this." She petted the bird's neck, which prompted his attentions to turn to her and nuzzle her cheek gently. "Ain't he a sweetie?"

Cloud smiled lightly reaching up to pet Quetzcoatl's head. Surprisingly, it was soft to the touch, only a slight electric tingle passing through his skin that wasn't at all unpleasant. The faceless bird seemed to agree to the attention, a low humming purr escaping from it despite its lack of a mouth.

"I'm surprised Quetzcoatl has taken such a shine to you," a low but thundering voice commented. The pair looked over to the old man, who was now holding the prayer scrolls. "You must not seem threatening to him."

"I guess that's a compliment sir," Cloud smiled, keeping to Yuffie's advice and being polite.

"Thank you for passing these on," the old man -Ramuh most certainly was he- said. "Please tell Lord Squall that his will shall be done. Quetzcoatl." The faceless bird pulled away, propelling himself to the old man and lowering his head for the other to hop on. Rai once more helped Ramuh to take his seat. "Farewell," said the old man, whispering some strange language to the faceless bird. Quetzcoatl took to the air, an electrical current once more zinging the air. Cloud felt the hairs on the nape of his neck stand on end, watching in awe as the pair flew into the sky, disappearing into the cloud cover as they got higher and higher.

Cloud just stood there, watching… and then he remembered Leon. "Ah! Did you guys see Leon when you were coming back? I nearly got caught by the oni and he… he appeared to protect me."

All three shook their head. "Sorry. We didn't see him at all," Yuffie answered, watching as the human's eyes fell deeper into concern. "But knowing that guy, he'll be popping up again sooner or later."

"I guess…"

"Come on," Rai grinned, using a finger to make a glowing slit in the air. "Let's take the shortcut back."

"Agreed," Fuu nodded, opening the slit. "Rest up Cloud."

Cloud looked between the two Zanki, but was soon yelping in surprise as Yuffie grabbed his wrist and dragged through the open portal.

Even though he wanted to believe all three of them that Leon was alright, he still couldn't help but worry.

* * *

They hadn't seen him, but Squall, now in child form, had been watching them from the torii, just to make sure that Cloud was alright. With a rare wry smile, he changed back to his adult form and began to make the long trek back home. "You're definitely something else Cloud."


	7. Nanoban no Monogatari

**A/N:** Hey guys. I finally finished this chapter of ANR for you guys, and I hope that this chapter continues to make you hunger for more, despite the long delays and what not. I'm actually growing more excited by Arashi no Rakuen; watching how the words fall out on the page surprises me more and more every time. It's magical. Really magical.

(P.S. I hope a certain part in this chapter makes up for the long wait. Especially to those who are reading Ever After that are hunkering for some romance)

And, I'll put it here as a note of possibility; next update of Ever After I'll probably make it official.

I don't know how many of you guys have read a very old work of mine called Magnetic Attraction. It was the first proper shounen-ai's I ever did and to date it was the only Axel/Roxas novel I was writing (they have one short story to their name called Pyrophobia, which was a gift-fic). I discontinued it a long time ago because I ran out of energy for it and I began writing Heart Under Siege instead, which is a work I am infinitely more proud of and so glad that I finished. I said that the main problem with Magnetic Attraction was that it was becoming so long that I didn't know where it was going to end, and I think that was mostly because I was writing it without so much as a plan for it and seeing what I could spew out. Anyway, I know people still read it, and from time to time I get a review pleading me to update it (which I honestly can't. I tried, but I can't).

I'm not making promises, but I'm going to try and reboot it. That means taking it down and starting entirely from scratch. Some elements of the original story will still be in place, but I'm going to make it go through a dramatic overhaul (in other words, I will probably be cutting out some scenes, changing the roles of characters in the story, try to make it a little less like Gravitation which it was heavily influenced by at the start, and just make it more realistic; I don't know what the hell I was thinking with Exorcist!Cloud). Don't get excited though; it might not happen.

OK, so other than that little titbit of news, thank you for reading and reviewing everyone! Happy Royal Wedding Day *patriotic wave of her British Flag* and please review for they are my wedding cake!

* * *

As the cover of darkness settled over the realm of the storm god, Cloud found it hard to keep his mind focus on his evening chores concerning the little storm god. He hadn't heard anything from or of Leon yet, which made him worry if the hotoke was possibly injured but was too ruddy stubborn and proud to let anyone help him.

"You seem a bit distant tonight," Squall commented. Cloud was currently preparing the little god for bed, having taken off all the finery and leaving the little boy in a simple cotton white robe. "Did something happen today?"

"…Why did you choose me to go to the Altar?" He kept his voice quiet, but didn't show the demand that maybe he felt like he should have had in his voice. If anything… he was more curious about the choice.

"Wanted to test how trustworthy you were," Squall answered emotionlessly. "And you passed despite being chased around like some rabbit trying to escape from a pack of wolves."

"Trustworthy? I think it was more of a test to see how fast I could run before getting my eyeballs eaten."

"To be fair, the oni would probably eat your heart first."

"That isn't the point," Cloud frowned. "The point is that it was a rather cruel way to test a person's trustworthy or not."

"Let's face it," Squall stated with a frown that was more like a childish pout. "It's a faster way of either having proof that you're trustworthy or having you killed off so that I don't have to deal with you later."

"Charming," Cloud deadpanned, standing up. "So glad I passed that rather bizarre test."

"So you should be. But that's not what's really bothering you is it?" Cloud looked at the little god, trying to hide what he was thinking but he knew that Squall had a knack of finding out what was truly going on in his mind. "If you're worried about Leon, you needn't be."

"How do you know about Leon?"

"Because I sent him to keep an eye on you just in case things were beginning to look a little sticky." Cloud quirked an eyebrow, but said nothing about how he thought that order entirely contradicted Squall's previous one. After all, this was a kid that had the ability to change into a carnivorous man-eating creature.

"I'll set the futon up," Cloud muttered, taking the discarded clothing and walking over to the large wardrobe that housed the young god's clothes and bedding. It was clear to him that Squall was never going to be clear about his intentions or with his answers. He stopped what he was doing when Squall suddenly said:

"Why are you worried about Leon anyway?"

Cloud pursed his lips then continued with his task. "I don't know if he'd agree, but I guess we have a sort of mutual friendship." But was that even the best way to describe their relationship? "So he might not worry about me, but because he might be hurt because of me, I'm worried about him."

"Guilt?"

"Maybe." Silence. A very pregnant one. Cloud just began to lay out the little storm god's futon out, keeping his silence, unaware that Squall was staring at him with a look that might have been the closest thing to a mixture of sadness and relief. But he said nothing either for a long while. Cloud patted the covers. "Do you need me to do anything else?"

"No," Squall answered. "You're dismissed for now."

"Alright." He stood. "See you in the morning." He only bowed his head; Squall had long since given up trying to make the human utterly succumb to his authority. Cloud was just like his namesake; free to go wherever he'd like, never letting any other force tell him what he could and could not do or where he could or could not go. Free-spirited. Like Rinoa. Like his mother. But Squall would never say that; that would be revealing too much to the human. He was gone, leaving the child god behind. Now he'd go to the room that was nearby, waiting and praying that Leon, 'the mutual friend', would turn up unscathed.

He better not keep him waiting for too long.

* * *

Cloud didn't bother changing out of his hakama and gi, glancing out of the window from time to time. He was expecting to see Leon perched there, appearing as if out of nowhere the next time he glanced over. He was left bitterly disappointed when the next time he glanced, the hotoke wasn't there. It was surprising how quickly the strange man had already gotten a hold of him. As he glanced away for what felt like the thousandth time, he contemplated on whether he should just prepare for bed. He wasn't going to stay up all night for Leon's sake.

"Surprised you haven't made up your futon yet."

He turned quickly to the window, seeing Leon sitting at the window, face as expressionless as ever. He didn't appear to be injured, which relieved Cloud immensely. "I was just about to."

"Don't bother then. We're going."

"Going? Where?"

"You'll see." He held his hand out to Cloud. "Come with me." The human could only look at the hotoke, their eyes meeting in silent conversation. He was willing the other to trust him; Cloud was uncertain, not because of mistrust, but more because of how useless he appeared to be in this world. In his life in the world of humans, at least he could help with menial tasks and farming. Here, if he left the protective cocoon of te palace, he was just a moving meal for oni. Leon seemed to know what was on his mind; "Trust me. We're not going anywhere with oni around."

"Then where are we going?" Cloud demanded. Leon only snorted.

"What? And ruin the surprise for you?" He suddenly grabbed Cloud by the arm and practically threw him onto his shoulder, eliciting an alarmed yelp from the blond. Leon was already about to jump from his perch.

"W-Wait! Leon!" The hotoke didn't listen, letting them fall to the lower rooftops soundlessly like a cat. Cloud was still yelling his protests as Leon ran to wherever he had planned to take the human, blissfully ignoring him. "Dammit Leon! Put me down already! I'm not a woman! **LEON**!"

* * *

A little further away, Demyx was overhearing the debacle, having been disturbed from his playing in his own quarters. He could only smile lightly to himself; he hadn't seen the Arashi no Kami working so hard to make a relationship work since… well, since Lady Rinoa all those years ago. Maybe eventually they would see that rare smile. It had been too long since the last time it graced them with an appearance. He turned back to his playing, letting his mystical sitar croon its song like an evening bird. As it sung, the small water garden that was attached to his chambers sprung into life, sometimes watery figures taking shape and dancing to the rhythms and sounds the music made. Sometimes they were just generic men and women. Sometimes it was the form of his friends.

Sometimes it was just an image of Zexion.

Not that he would ever tell the shadow god. He had a feeling Zexion had an inkling of these activities when he was feeling particularly lonely. Even so, it was a little embarrassing for him, and definitely for the Kage no Kami.

He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard something coming from the water; when he looked, he noticed that it was one of his watery portals that had been specially made for the gods that could travel between realms. Was Zexion coming back? He hoped so. He eagerly scuttled over to the pond side, watching the bubbling turn into a swirling eddy, which then changed into the tiny ferocious glowing whirlpool.

The whirlpool soon spat out the passer through, revealing that it was indeed Zexion. He brushed off the small droplets of water that had settled on his form. Demyx smiled broadly. "Welcome back, Zexion." The shadow god turned his gaze to the water god, smiled only briefly and began trudging back to dry land. He looked exhausted and a bit dishevelled, but other than that he looked very calm. "Did you… find a way to break Squall's curse?"

"I managed to translate the curse," Zexion answered. "Honestly… I never knew my father was such a poet."

"What do you mean?"

"It means that its simplicity is its intricacy, and that Squall has known how to break it this whole time but couldn't tell us either out of pride or because the Souzou Shin double cursed him to never speak of it."

"…So… does this mean…?"

"Of the two occasions that Lord Squall saved a human from eternal death in Ankoku no Sekai, it was because he had hoped that they were the ones that would help him break the curse."

"Then he doesn't need help?"

"He doesn't want help… but he's getting it anyway," Zexion answered. "Too much is at stake here for him to remain stubborn."

"What do you mean Zexion?" Demyx asked. He wish he didn't ask; the Kage no Kami turned to face him, and for the first time Demyx could read his emotions clearly. Sadness and despair.

"Father… no, Xemnas' curse on Squall… it's a prolonged death sentence that will prevent him from ever reincarnating. He wants Arashi no Kami and Arashi no Rakuen and all who live here to die."

"What?-! But- How- Why- ?-!" Demyx sputtered, completely taken aback by this revelation.

"I don't know," Zexion whispered. "This goes beyond punishment for harming a human directly… this is punishment for rebelling against him all those years ago." He looked at Demyx pleadingly. "You have to help me. Squall doesn't have much time left if he's struggling to maintain an adult form for very long."

"But what can we do? If… If Squall thinks Cloud is going to break the curse, how do we help them?"

"It'll be difficult considering that Cloud doesn't even know that Squall and 'Leon' are one in the same… but we have to do something."

"Like what?"

"…I'll think of something."

* * *

When he was finally allowed to stand again, they found themselves standing on the roof of the tallest towering structure of Arashi no Rakuen. Sora had once told him that this was the Watch Tower, a place that was used by the god's to watch over the human world. Only the kishi and ryoushu were allowed to go near it, so it begged to question why Leon thought it was a good idea for him to bring a human to it. Cloud clung to the spire tightly, watching as Leon balanced flawlessly as he paced along the roof. "Why are we here?" he asked.

"It's almost time," Leon muttered, looking down at the ground and then up at the full blue moon. He then nodded his head as if happy with something. "It's in alignment." He held his hand out to Cloud; the blond looked at it with distrust. "It's alright. I'm not going to let you fall."

"What if I do?"

"Then I'm going to have to jump after you," Leon replied. "Trust me. Take my hand." Against his better judgement, Cloud allowed his hand to shakily slide into Leon's calloused hand, feeling the other take it reassuringly tightly. "Good. Now… let go the spire slowly." It felt like he was under a spell, because he was doing exactly as told, feeling his arm unravel itself from the spire. He was then encouraged to take steps towards Leon, taking it one small step at a time.

Leon never let go of his hand. His other hand went around Cloud's back and on his shoulder, guiding him to look with him what he was seeing. The human felt himself shake a little from fear, but he tried to stay calm and keep a brave face. Leon was now looking down. "Take a look," he whispered. Cloud, still uncertain, hazarded a look, praying that the drop wasn't as dizzying as he feared.

When he looked, all fears of the urge to jump at seeing the height were dispelled, his eyes mesmerised by the smooth surface of the mirror-lake walled lake that he faced. The moon admired its face in the lake's reflection, and stars danced and twinkled as if giddy from seeing their own beauty. Even the few rolling clouds seemed to glow with pride at having such a glamorous reflection, waltzing with the stars and the soft gentle wind of the night. He heard Leon make a small sound that seemed akin to amusement, as if entertained by the human's reaction.

"What is this place?" Cloud asked.

"This is known as a World Mirror," Leon answered into his ear. "The gods use them to watch over your world."

"So… there's more than one?"

"Four in total," Leon replied. "This one here, one at Kyuuden no Shizen, one at Ankoku no Sekai and one at Souzou no Kooto. The Sukai Shin's flying city travels between all the realms so he didn't see the need to have one." He then added, "Or at least, that's what I've been told."

"Can we use it?" Cloud asked, part of him wanting to know if the village that had betrayed him had been spared from the typhoon that had terrorised them. He never asked Squall about it, because he could only assume that the little storm god had a negative view on sacrificial rituals. If anything, Squall probably had the typhoon worsen, and maybe even caused a tsunami. He still wanted to know despite having these feelings.

"No," Leon whispered, sounding a little guilty, as if he knew Cloud's thoughts and wanted to help him. "I don't have the power to ask it anything." The blond could only allow himself to feel mildly disappointed… but somehow he expected this to be. "Let's go down."

"Hmm? Oh… well I do feel like its time for-"

"To the Mirror."

"Eh? What?" Cloud looked at Leon with confusion. "But we can't be-" Before he had a chance to finish, Leon had picked Cloud up in his arms, forcing the blond to wrap his arms around the brunet hotoke's neck so to stop himself from dropping. Leon began the descent down to the World Mirror, surprised that Cloud wasn't protesting. Until he figured that Cloud had probably realised there was no point in yelling at him when he was so dead set on something.

As they finally reached the ground, Leon let him down, looking on with dry amusement as he saw Cloud's bemused face. They were standing on the surface of the World Mirror, which was definitely made out of water and looked deep, and yet they were standing on it as if it were solid ground. "Magic?" Cloud murmured.

"To an extent," Leon replied, his feet making wet footsteps as ripples disturbed the surface and distorted the reflection of the night sky. "Though its none of the gods' work I can tell you."

"What do you mean?"

"It means that the gods had nothing to do with the World Mirrors," Leon answered. Ripples collided against each other as he walked. "Some say they were the spirits of another kind of entity that tried to connect the worlds together. Some say that before most of the ryoushu were born, the world had been entrusted by four sisters who cared for it as if it were their own. Then the ryoushu were born, and the sisters became the realms they lived in." He turned to Cloud. "But I'm sure you didn't want to know that."

"No. Tell me," Cloud said, his feet making one sodden step after another towards Leon. "I've never heard of that story."

"…Well, humans weren't born then, so it's not that surprising," Leon explained, but he seemed to humour the blond. "Four sisters. Their names were Raine, Lucrezia, Ilfana and Minerva, and they all cared for the world that the Souzou Shin had made. However, even though they were godlike entities, they were not gods themselves. They were going to die soon; after all, they were only created to monitor the Souzou Shin's pet project while he grew bored of it."

"So you mean that the Souzou Shin was going to destroy the world before humans came about?"

"Pretty much. He's heartless. He'll do something for entertainment and when it doesn't amuse him anymore he gets rid of it. Your world was going to die… but the sisters found a way to protect it."

"The ryoushu," Cloud whispered.

"Correct." Leon skimmed a toe across the surface, watching as the large blue moon's reflection was distorted once again. "They gave birth to the ryoushu and became Arashi no Rakuen, Shizen no Kyuuden, Ankoku no Sekai and Souzou no Kooto, though back then it belonged to the Sukai Shin and it was just known as the Sukai no Kyuuden." He outstretched his arms as if to show Cloud something. "The World Mirrors are their hearts. The sisters' hearts that held their dying wishes to watch over your world. We who live in the homes they granted us could never show them enough gratitude other than to watch and serve."

"So I guess I ought to be thankful to them to," Cloud reasoned, walking past Leon to the centre of the lake. Leon turned, eyes looking at the human's back quizzically. What was he going to…?

Cloud bent onto his knees, feeling the water seep into his hakama. This all seemed to get more and more complicated… but he guessed that if these sisters did exist, then he owed them for the chance for life… and owed this one for giving birth to a son that saved his life. He didn't know which sister this was, and he doubted Squall would ever tell him, but he still wanted to thank her. He put his hands on the surface, the coolness of the water pressing back against the palms. He whispered a thank you to her. For giving her life for his world, because as a consequence she had spared him from a true death. He heard Leon walk up next to him and crouch down. He didn't face the human.

"You're thanking the Mirror?"

"If it wasn't for her… my world wouldn't exist. And it's because of her that Arashi no Rakuen came to be, and that Squall saved me a long time down the line and that I…" Cloud looked up slightly, letting his eyes briefly meet Leon's profile. "I got to meet you."

There was a silence. Leon very hesitantly turned to look at Cloud, and their eyes met at last. "…you're happy you met me?" Leon asked quietly.

"Yeah," Cloud nodded. "It's weird… but coming here, meeting everyone, meeting you… it's the happiest I've ever been."

"So… you're happy to stay here forever? As an immortal like Yuffie?"

"There wasn't much going for me in my village… and I always called a demon child because of the way I looked so being here feels… nearly normal."

"…I think you look beautiful."

Cloud went utterly mute at that, his cheeks burning into a bright ruby scarlet colour that went all the way to his ears. He tried to look away, but Leon's hand reached out and tilted his chin so that Cloud remained looking at him. "Wh-What are you saying?" he whispered.

"I'm saying that I think you are beautiful and that the humans you were living with were ignorant or jealous cowards."

His hand now travelled up to Cloud's blushing hot cheek. The blond swallowed a lump he didn't know was forming, feeling his heart muscle knock violently against his ribcage. He wanted to say something. Maybe something witty, or something that sounded angry, or something that wanted to just laugh off or dismiss coolly what Leon had said, but all he could manage was a faint, pathetic sounding, "Wh-What?"

He saw Leon lean in slightly, but not too close as if in fear of being rejected. Which didn't come on Cloud's part. He found himself staying completely still, looking on in bewilderment as he wondered if Leon would close the gap or widen it between them. He soon received his answer. "Sorry…for this…"

He felt lips against his own. In a vague moment before they met, Cloud had wondered what it would feel like. Soft? Hard? Full? Thin? None of the above as it turned out, because his mind was swimming at just how _warm_ and _tingly_ it felt, almost like being out in a summer storm, with the muggy atmosphere and electric bites in the air. Even when his hand slid down from his cheek to the back of his blond head it felt like a bolt of electricity had passed pleasurably through him. It was like his whole body, with all its psychologically created defence systems dotted around his heart and places he did not want being touched anytime soon, had completed melted and surrendered to the hotoke and his mind was reduced to a puddle of goo too. Leon pulled away, but not very far so that there was a chance to go back if he was allowed to.

For a moment, Cloud was half considering it. "Leon… why…"

"Just don't ask," Leon muttered. His hand was still holding the back of Cloud's head, strands of soft blond hair poking out between his fingers. When he pulled away fully, he began to stand on his feet, kinagashi edges dripping with water. Cloud stood to, eyes not leaving Leon's form, though the hotoke wasn't looking at him. "I… I just acted… and I didn't even think about how you might feel… so just…"

Cloud took a hold of Leon's sleeve, tugging it lightly to make him stop and look at him. He was embarrassed but he wasn't angry. That in itself confused the human. "Don't tell me to forget… because I can't forget something like this," he whispered.

"I was being selfish."

"Then let me be selfish. Don't tell me to forget."

When their eyes met once again, Cloud saw the troubled look in the hotoke's grey eyes. It was like he was fighting himself, willing himself to not take advantage, telling himself to not fall into temptation that was before him. And here _he _was, practically telling him to throw caution to the wind and not forget that one lapse of judgement. Little wonder Leon looked so torn really. "Please… don't do this to me," Leon pleaded, sounding strained.

"Then we're stuck, because what you're about to ask from me… is impossible, and what I'm asking from you is also impossible."

"This sounds so idiotic. Only a human would think of something like this."

"I get it, humans are idiots, and I might be the biggest one here. At least one of us has an excuse, right?"

That elicited a dry chuckled from Leon, but he then very thinly smiled at the human. Cloud quietly smiled back; it was good to see the hotoke not look so troubled. "So… you don't mind a shadow touch you?"

"There's nothing shadowy about you now, is there?" Cloud replied. He never saw Leon merge into the shadows he was meant to be within ever since meeting him.

"No… No there isn't." Leon quickly jerked his arm, pulling the human towards him as his other arm wrapped securely around his waist. Cloud's hands found themselves gripping the fabric of Leon's sleeves, body pressed firmly against the hotoke. He would've been surprised, but by now he didn't really have much reason to be since Leon jerked and dragged him around from place to place normally. Maybe what was more surprising was the gentleness that he felt when Leon's arm had settled so comfortably around his waist, like it was just a natural attachment. He leaned in slowly; Cloud's already fast heart rate sky rocketed. "I better take you back to your room…"

"Why?" Cloud asked, sounding breathless.

"I don't trust myself," Leon responded, squeezing lightly before hoisting Cloud's whole body to rest in his arms. "And Squall will kill me if anything happened to you."

"More like you wouldn't forgive yourself," Cloud corrected. He didn't know why, but Leon was a little easier to read and understand than he usually was. Maybe it was because he had let his guard down and was still scrambling inwardly to piece it back together.

"Maybe," Squall muttered. He then began to sprint; they had strayed too long on the World Mirror. "Let's get you back to your room."

* * *

The stars and the moon were the only eyes that witnessed their journey back to the human's room, silent observers of the secretive man and his oblivious companion. More eyes saw them though.

Yuffie had followed from a distance when she saw her lord running along the rooftops with Cloud over his shoulder, and understandably she was worried that they might fall. But now she understood why Cloud had been asking around if she knew a person called Leon.

His Leon and their Squall were one in the same, just Cloud hadn't realised the connection though it seemed like it was staring at him in the face. But who was she to judge; she freaked out the first time Squall showed her the transformation he could go through, and it was only until Zexion told her about the curse and what it was doing to the storm god that she could understand. If Cloud were to find out from someone else…

That was going to be a very messy fallout indeed.

She kept herself hidden in the shadows as she watched Leon drop down to Cloud's room, training her ears to listen in to their conversation.

"So… should I expect not to hear from you for a while?" Cloud had asked quietly as he was helped over the balcony.

"Well…" the disguised god started, sounding very unsure of himself; Yuffie couldn't help but feel the surprise of hearing a usually quietly confident god sounding so uncertain. "We'll see."

"Is that Leon-talk for 'until I've gotten over my initial embarrassment'?" Cloud questioned. Yuffie couldn't see their expressions, but she imagined that maybe her fellow human was smiling teasingly. But most likely not.

"It might be," was the honest reply. Yuffie saw that their gazes had met again, and the silence that followed was so thick with tension. Not the unpleasant kind she realised. "…goodnight."

"Same to you."

She held her breath as she noticed that the adult Squall had pulled himself up, obscuring the view between him and Cloud. All she knew was that he had lingered a little longer than he should have, and made a very hasty exit after a mumbled farewell, disappearing downwards and landing on his feet like a cat. It was a struggle not to contain a perverse sort of glee at seeing Squall being this awkward around someone else. Her perverse sense of glee was encouraging her more wicked nature to follow Squall as best as she could just to see what he would do now, and she relented to it. She followed him as far as one of the more private rock gardens dotted about the palace when Squall finally stated, "How much did you see of that Yuffie?"

"You knew I was there?" Yuffie demanded, put out that Squall had noticed her.

"I could hear you trying not to laugh at seeing me looking so pathetic," he grumbled. He was sitting cross-legged, refusing to change into his child form. Yuffie jumped out of the shadows, crouched on her haunches and grinning teasingly at him.

"Soooooooo," she drawled, "you fancy Cloud?"

"Shut it," he grumbled; his eyes wouldn't meet hers.

"Ah ha, so you admit it." She leant forward a bit. "Can't say I blame you though. He's got the looks, even though his personality is more like yours."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Stubborn as a mule, patience of a saint at times but easy to annoy, really acerbic and taciturn more times than often, but has a really good heart that's just a little bit guarded because he's had such a rough time." She then chuckled. "Not surprised he'd be attracted to someone still nursing a broken heart and wounded pride like you."

"And what's _that_ supposed to mean?"

"Oh don't act like you still don't pine after Rinoa." She sat across from him, laying back casually. To anyone else, this would seem disrespectful of a koukennin to be so informal with her lord, but Yuffie had once been the object of Squall's attention. Unwanted attention she had to admit because she knew he was forcing himself, and that she was just the closest thing to being a little bit like Rinoa. The petite shinobi did not want to be someone else's replacement. That was the reason why the relationship never worked. "But honestly, making the move on her son. Now is that a revenge on Seifer or-"

"It's not revenge," Squall growled testily. He then looked away. "He's… different."

"Oh _please_," Yuffie rolled her eyes. "Prove me wrong. Cloud's the son of Rinoa and Seifer. Ultimate payback on Seifer if you suddenly just swept his son off his feet and had your merry way with him." She jumped when Squall's fist collided with the floor.

"It's not like that!" His eyes were like those of the lion he was linked to. Proud, strong, and very, very angry. "It doesn't matter whose son Cloud is! I didn't know that when I saved him in the first place! I don't see why it changes things!"

Yuffie kept calm; prior experience taught her that keeping a very cool composure worked in her favour. "Then why are you going around calling yourself Leon in front of him?" Squall just glared at her for a few terse moments before looking away, no answer coming from him. "You're scared. Scared that he's going to reject you. Or scared he's going to find out that his mom was _your_ _wife_ until she went behind your back and had an affair."

"…don't bring it up."

"I'm going to bring it up because this is even more important than ever for you to face it," Yuffie scowled. "Come on _Squall_, I had to coax out Rinoa's name and the fact that she had an affair with Seifer from you to make any sense of what was going on. And I _still _don't know what happened all those years ago." She gave him a pleading glance. "At least tell me what made Rinoa go to Seifer when everyone was so sure you two were happy."

Squall wouldn't look at her for a long while, but she could tell he was shaking. She had him cornered and he didn't like it; the beast inside was trying to make its mind up between fight or flight. She put a hand over Squall's; risky, but she knew that Squall wasn't the type to ever lay a finger of harm upon anyone, especially not upon a woman. "…I never faced the problems that I caused upon everyone by marrying Rinoa."

"Problems you caused just by marrying her?"

"Regardless of how much power Rinoa had in her, she was still a human at the end of the day. Humans and gods were never meant to mix, even though we look after humankind. It was just one of those unwritten laws instilled unto us as soon as we were born. Xemnas of course made them up, but I saw him just as a huge hypocrite considering the string of affairs he had with humans before he tired of them."

"No deviances or bashing the Souzou Shin," Yuffie chided. "Straight talking. Right to the point. I don't want this to turn into another rant about the Souzou Shin."

"Fine," Leon grumbled before continuing. "Because of that rule, there were many who were against the marriage. I didn't want to face them though because I just saw it as immature opinions… but I never realised the effect they were having on Rinoa." He then sighed. "Plus I was always busy keeping the world in order so that it wouldn't get destroyed that Rinoa and I hardly saw each other. I guess she was growing lonely. I wasn't there to support her, and there were so many -gods, seishin and other creatures- who didn't her there. At that point… I think Seifer really saved her."

She noticed that Squall was struggling despite the fluency of his words; this was just something he never really wanted to talk about to anyone or let anyone see the guilt and shame he felt about this.

"I… I was jealous. Really, really jealous. And I took it out on him and her by just pushing them both away. That only made them even closer to each other."

"So you think… that what's happened to you was a consequence of your own actions?"

"It _is_ a consequence of my actions. I'm my own worst enemy; I'm not perfect. I'm like humans in that I feel emotions and make a mess of things, even though I don't like to admit it. But because of what I did, Rinoa and Seifer entered that relationship, I lost my temper when I found out and…" He clenched his fist. "…and that's how we ended up in this mess. I was cursed for harming a human, Seifer was imprisoned for the rest of his life to atone for what he did and Rinoa… Rinoa was sent to the world's future away from us, with her and Seifer's unborn child and left at the mercy of her fellow humans." A sharp intake of breath. "Our curse… our tri-curse… it was the death of her. It'll kill off Seifer… and I'm sure Zexion's realised that I'm dying."

"What?-!" Yuffie screeched, sitting up straight. "You're dying?-! But that's-!"

"We've been through this Yuffie. A god doesn't necessarily mean they're immortal. Long-lived, yes, but not invulnerable." He then sighed. "That's why there's no time for petty vengeance on Seifer. I just want… to make this one thing work and not cock it up for once."

"…you have to tell him."

"I-"

"No excuses," Yuffie snapped. "You have to tell Cloud about this. About the fact that you as a child and 'Leon' are the same person and that this is because of the curse. You have to tell him about Rinoa and Seifer and you have to tell him about your relationship with _his_ mother."

"But I-"

"I swear Squall, if you don't do it, _**I**_ will."

Was it really bad that she almost relished the look of pure terror appearing on Squall's startled face? She didn't think so, but she did feel like the god needed a good kicking in the right direction. He wasn't going anywhere fast, at he needed to get to a point where he was going to break this death curse of his _sharpish_. He knew that. He sighed in defeat. "I'll tell him in my own time… I'm sure I have enough of it."

"You better bloody hope so," Yuffie frowned. "Your life is at stake here."

"I know," he whispered; he knew all to well. He knew too much while everyone else knew too little. Not that Yuffie had any knowledge of that. She stood.

"Well, I guess that's enough lecturing today. You better shift back into child form. I'll take you ba-"

"I want to stay here a little longer," Squall cut across, giving her a glance only reserved for when there was little point to arguing with him. She nodded her head slowly, knowing she had tested her luck to the limit now.

"Alright, but make sure you get back to your chambers. I don't want to come back here and find you've passed out."

"Have a little more faith in me Yuffie."

"Trust me, my faith in you has been rocked far more times than could be called healthy." She walked away. "Take care."

* * *

Cloud felt a bit dazed by what had happened, as if still not quite having returned to the reality from the dream-like world he found himself in. Leon had nearly kissed him a second time; or maybe it felt like he was going to, because he stopped and murmured something so quiet and inaudible that Cloud couldn't hear it. Then he was gone faster than Cloud could fathom it though his mouth immediately wished him farewell after Leon said his goodbye.

His body was moving on its own, setting up his futon and taking off his hakama and gi before settling down to sleep, as if all was normal. Well, normal for a day in Arashi no Rakuen.

He was none the wiser to the watcher that was perched like some stone guardian on the roof, watching his every move in his room.

The watcher was quick once certain that the blond was asleep, moving silently like a black shadow as it jumped from the roof to the window ledge, stepping into the room without disturbing a single straw of the tatami mats. Cloud barely stirred, looking far too relaxed in his sleep. He should have been more wary. The shadow moved, dropping to a knee and taking out the wakizashi that had been delicately tied to its waist, a black gloved hand moving it so that it was hovering over the human's still beating heart.

The shadow could hear it; the heart of a body that should be dead. That should have been collected. That should have been _his_ to take, not the Arashi no Kami's. He had no right to meddle in the affairs of the dead, and no right to intercept him while performing his duties. If he didn't collect this human's soul, the Shi no Kami, his Lord Sephiroth, would have his head as a trophy and his skin made into a drum. His silver hair which just skimmed his jawline shone gently in the moonlight, green acidic eyes hidden by his bangs. He made to kill the human.

His wakizashi pinged out of his hand, landing blade first with a thunk into the tatami. The blond human grumbled at the disturbance, but he didn't wake much to the shinigami's relief. That damn god had put a protection spell on the human. There was no way a mere shinigami like him could get past that. He snarled lightly. "I swear he's trying to piss me off now." He stood up, grabbed his wakizashi from the floor with a sharp pull and made his way to the window. There was no way he could kill the human with just his wakizashi. He was going to need something a little more potent to get that human soul.

_Kadaj, go to the Arashi no Kami_. The voice of his lord spoke to him in his head. He almost questioned it, but then he received the message that had to be delivered. He smirked cruelly. "At once, my lord."

As quickly as he came, death's reaper disappeared from the scene and into the night. But he was not done with his work.

* * *

Squall was still waiting for their stalker to arrive, knowing that the shinigami would probably come and confront him about the survival of Cloud. He wouldn't have left Cloud alone in the room if he didn't chant a protection spell on the human's form; if anything, he would have stayed with him if he could but that would mean revealing that he and the child form that the human had grown used to were the same person. He wasn't ready to reveal that yet.

As expected, he heard the sound of a billowing black robe land in the garden. He looked up, seeing the silvery wisps of hair flowing in the wind slightly and shining acidic green eyes. He recognised this shinigami; he was one of Sephiroth's triplet clones and koukennin. "Good evening Kadaj. What brings you here?"

"You know very well what brings me here," Kadaj frowned, jumping from the rock he hand landed on and walking to where the storm god sat. "Protecting a human that is way past his lifetime. His soul should have been brought to Ankoku no Sekai and judged there, not given a fast pass ticket to your heaven."

"I was never one for following the rules," Squall smirked, leaning back easily. "Either way, he's under my protection now. There's nothing you, Sephiroth or any other shinigami can do about that. So do me a favour and go bother the rest of the human souls that need collecting. I'm sure there are a few bad eggs you can be torturing right now."

"As much as I admire your bravado, I'm actually here to deliver a message from Lord Sephiroth," Kadaj replied, smirking cruelly back. Squall's face furrowed; a message from Sephiroth? Since when was Sephiroth ever concerned about his matters?

"Yes…?"

"First, he wanted me to ask just how long you think you have left, O mighty storm god."

Kadaj was taunting him. Squall knew that. A lowly shinigami would never taunt a ryoushu, regardless if they were a koukennin or not. "Maybe a few more years."

"Three months," Kadaj answered promptly. "That little transformation you did a while back turned your mark much blacker, didn't it? Bet you haven't even told Zexion that your mark is more painful than ever, that it feels like it's piercing your heart." Squall faltered, not liking how everything he had been hiding until now was being reported to him. "Three months. Three months to make someone accept you for all your faults and for the fact that it's been forcing you to stay in a young child form. Fairly soon you'll be forced to take the form of a baby just to stave off the pain."

Squall stood up at that, wanting to hit the shinigami but he composed himself quickly.

"Three months until everything disappears, including that human you've taken it upon yourself to protect despite the effect it's having on your body. My, I do hope it's all worth it. It'd be such a shame if he _rejected_ you."

That's when Squall threw a punch, uncharacteristically expressional in his anger. Kadaj dodged the hit by jumping back a few paces; he was still smirking.

"Anyway, Lord Sephiroth can understand just how heartbreaking it would be if all your hopes came to naught and this place died with you, so he thought he might like to strike a bargain with you, since its obvious he won't be getting that human's soul at all."

"…State it," Squall growled.

"He'll stop your time entirely. You won't die, but you won't wake either. You'll be stationary forever, but Arashi no Rakuen and everyone who lives here will live on. All he asks in return… is your soul."

"…My soul just to keep Arashi no Rakuen alive? What does want with it? And why say this now when he hasn't shown any interest ever since the day I was cursed?"

"Oh, let's just say that he does feel truly sorry that you had to go through this, especially since it was you who was the victim of such a terrible betrayal." Kadaj over-dramatised it, shedding a false tear and putting his face into his hand mournfully. "It's more than I can bear with my cold, black heart."

"Cut the dramatics," Squall snapped. "Sephiroth would have rather seen me dead in the past. What's changed? I highly doubt he's grown a heart in the past thousand years."

"Hmmph," Kadaj shook his head. "See it in his perspective; you took something of his, which he now can't have because no doubt you'll have this whole place covered in talismans by the end of the week. However… it's not certain that this one human you're placing your hopes on will come to love you back. So why risk the place he now lives?"

Squall faltered again. That was true… Cloud had nowhere left to go, and he couldn't let the shinigami take him. Not only that, this place was home to all sorts of seishin and creatures; he couldn't risk it. Sephiroth's proposal was looking very tempting now.

"So… if he can't have the human soul, then compensate it with a ryoushu soul. Especially the ryoushu that took the human away. That would more than make up for the human soul that was taken away, and also keep Arashi no Rakuen alive. One powerful soul of a god for sparing the many souls that live there; not a bad bargain if I do say so." Kadaj leaned back against a rock. "Of course, he doesn't expect you to agree immediately… so he's offering the whole three month period or you to think about it."

"How generous of him," Squall drawled.

"Oh he is very generous," Kadaj smiled. He then tossed Squall his wakizashi; the storm god caught it with one hand. "If you agree to his proposal, draw blood from your palm with that blade and we'll come to fetch you, no questions asked." He then turned his back to the god. "Now… if you excuse me, I've outstayed my welcome. Farewell."

"Wait!"

But Kadaj was gone, leaving Squall alone in the garden. He looked to the small sword; long, thin and dangerous. The only way he was going to get to Ankoku no Sekai if he ever decided to take up Sephiroth's offer. And the thought scared him.

"…I can't doubt myself now," Squall muttered, squeezing the hilt and then staring up at the moon, the place were his arch-nemesis lived. "I _will_ break this curse. You just watch me." If anything, this whole meeting had just served to further strengthen his resolve to break the curse.

However, he hid the wakizashi in his bedroom when he returned. It was his last resort. There was no harm in having a last resort if all else fails after all.


	8. Youban no Monogatari

A/N: I know I know. Self; you need to get out of these writing slumps.

This isn't a particularly long chapter compared to the usual length of AnR chapters, but I didn't want to keep writing past what seemed like a good ending for a chapter. That being said, thank you all for the reviews! Please read, review and enjoy. For reviews are my birthday cake (yup; I'm another year older, creakier but not exactly wiser).

* * *

In the four weeks that had passed, Cloud found that his experiences with the child god Squall and the hotoke koukennin Leon were changing in very different ways. Squall seemed worried, all of a sudden demanding that Cloud stayed within close reach to him during daylight hours. So much so, that Cloud had been promoted from doing the menial chores that he was more used to, to being an active part of the day-to-day tasks that the child god engaged with. They even spent the rare breaks together. In those times, Squall never really spoke, but he clung onto him as if afraid of losing a close family member. He found it endearing but was still in shock at how much the little god seemed to depend on him all of a sudden. Even more shocking was the times when the young boy asked to play with him. Sometimes it was just a game of shogi -which by now, thanks to being taught by Riku how to play the game he was more than an adequate opponent for the child god- but other times he found themselves playing with the ningyos in their ball games. Of course, the ningyos with their sparkling fishlike tails seemed to have the upper hand, but they always made sure to handicap themselves in some way to make it a little fairer. Sometimes the use of their hands was prohibited; sometimes they decided to not use their tails to kick the ball to each other.

At night, Leon always visited him. Their meetings varied; sometimes they would just talk in Cloud's room, sometimes Leon took him to some new part of Arashi no Rakuen or a place that Cloud liked. Sometimes Leon told him of stories that Cloud would never have heard of, and other times they just stayed together in silence. Once or twice they kissed but it only happened shyly and awkwardly, never going further than a press of lips and maybe a gentle touch. He couldn't help but think, though, that Leon seemed to be hiding something for he always wore an expression of anxiety. As if he was worried about rejection, or that what happiness that was starting to grow would wither away and die suddenly. Cloud was too uncertain to ask into the hotoke's worries; like a shadow, Leon was an enigma in himself.

On times when he was alone, Cloud sometimes compared the pair. Leon and Squall seemed to share the same personality; cold exteriors, standoffish at times but emotionally scarred by the same event, and physically they appeared to be similar, right down to the strange scar running over the bridge of their nose at the very same angle. It made him wonder and question his impressions of the pair. Was it possible that they were linked in some way, but never spoke of it? Was their link really just that of a god and a koukennin?

He asked Yuffie, but was granted vague answers and told to ask Leon or Squall, though she looked fairly annoyed about it for some reason. He asked Demyx and Zexion when he came across them in one of the water gardens, but Zexion had very calmly denied knowing anything of a link between the two other than a ryoushu/koukennin relation. Yet Demyx's eyes alerted to Cloud that the shadow god had been hiding something. When he spoke to Axel and Roxas, it was very much the same thing.

It seemed that no one was very good at lying in this place, but Cloud could tell that it was a sore subject. Like… there was a reason why they were so similar, and that there was a link that no one was willing to speak of. He thought maybe it was familial link, but that idea was brushed aside when he remembered that a ryoushu and a hotoke were two completely different creatures. That, and if the spirit of the World Mirror was really Squall's mother, that would have to mean it was either an immaculate birth, or another hotoke had been the father. He really doubted that somehow.

Then he theorised that maybe it was a begrudging servitude on Leon's part to Squall. It was entirely possible that with the amount of power Squall had in his small frame, he could easily overpower someone foolish enough to challenge him. Then that put into question if Leon would be that foolish enough when he was younger to try something like that on a ryoushu. Like he had rationalised, it would have been a stupid man to underestimate Squall. Leon was not stupid, or that rash enough.

So what was it? He wasn't sure, and although he wanted to get it from either Squall or Leon, his mouth failed him even though his brain was screaming out these questions. Even as he resolved to ask the questions he wanted answered when Leon came over to his room tonight, he somehow doubted his lips would actually comply with his mind. He sighed despairingly as he waited. This was getting ridiculous. A month had already passed and he was still pandering over this. Why was it so difficult to ask such a simple question? He didn't remember being this weak; maybe a little bit of a doormat, but not weak.

"Hey." Cloud looked over to his window; sure enough, there he was, the firelight of flickering candles and the moonlight illuminating his features. Leon still looked as anxious as ever, and Cloud had no idea how to ask if everything was alright. _Weak_, he had scolded himself.

"Hey," he answered quietly, going over to the window. "Should I be expecting to be carried off somewhere?"

"You catch on fast," the hotoke replied with a feeble sounding remark. "Shall I throw you over my shoulder or would you prefer to be on my back?"

"Back please." Leon stepped into the room, turning around and bending onto one knee, waiting for Cloud to hop on. The blond could only sigh; he had learnt very quickly that the hotoke may offer choices but the result was the same. He had no choice in whether he was going with him or not. He took the path of least resistance. He slid on. Leon's arms hooked around Cloud's legs as he stood up slowly and carefully. "Promise me you're going to be more careful."

"Hold tight then." That meant Leon was going to try but he couldn't make the promise. So he did as he was told, just in time as Leon jumped onto the ledge of his window and launched himself into the night air, landing with cat-like deft ease onto the rooftops, silent as a hunter. That same silence was joined with the whistling of the wind as Leon ran over the rooftops, the stirring of wind chimes outside some rooms sometimes kissing each other melodically in the breeze as they went by. Cloud's hands clutched to the fabric of Leon's kinagashi, only pulling the fabric down slightly to reveal a dragon tattoo, inked with shadow black, rimmed in blood red. Although he had seen tattoos like it on the arms of fishermen as protective markings, this mark over where Leon's heart would be in his body looked painful. Just another question to ask in the sea of questions still unanswered.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"To the shore."

"The shore? Why?" Cloud tensed; he hadn't been back to the beach since being attacked by the mother Heartless, and consequently seeing Squall injured the way he was.

"Because there's something you have to see." Leon had now jumped down from the last edge of roof to the slate-tiled top of the tall walls, looking over to a moonlit sea and beach. The white beach looked like it was glowing in the moonlight, broken up by the stark blackness of the rocks that broke the shimmering surfaces. Cloud still feared it somewhat. "There's nothing to be afraid of."

"I know but…"

"Oni?"

Cloud nodded his head in reply. It was pathetic of him to be so worried over it but it wasn't something he could just forget. He felt Leon very carefully let him slide off his back.

"Don't worry," he said, his hand suddenly taking Cloud's as if to give him some sense of security. "They won't come anywhere near here. Squall made sure of that recently."

"He did?"

"Hmm. He didn't want you getting attacked out of the blue again." He then tugged Cloud's hand downwards lightly, hinting that they should sit down. Although uncertain, he wobbled as he tried to sit down, using Leon as a means of keeping some form of balance. The hotoke didn't seem to mind, carefully shuffling his feet around as he too lowered himself to sit along the wall. "They should be here soon."

"They?"

"Axel and Roxas." So Leon was on casual terms with the fire god and sun god too.

"Oh, so they've finished business with Lady Aerith?"

"Roxas has. Axel was only there because he's practically glued to him," Leon replied disparagingly. "If anything, Axel's only around to either cause trouble or rarely make himself useful."

"That's kind of a judgemental thing to say about a god," Cloud deadpanned. "You sure you can get away with that?"

"There's a reason why I've been around as long as I have." He leaned against his arms. "Hotokes are pretty difficult to harm. Give us a light source, we'll find a shadow to hide in. Axel and Roxas are practically just walking lighthouses for me."

"And Squall?"

"He might not be what I call a 'lighthouse' but he understands just how dangerous I can be." His gaze was fixed on the blue moon. "Shadows are always the scariest things in the room. Even the oni fear them despite also being a part of them."

"There's nothing scary about you in my opinion." Cloud looked over to him. The moonlight seemed to illuminate Leon's tanned features, shadows dispelled from his face, making him to appear divine in some way despite being such a creature of darkness. "Or at least, you don't scare me."

"I'm flattered," Leon responded, looking over to him. His blue-grey eyes shone like pale jewels in the moonlight. Cloud felt himself entranced by them, all questions he had wanted to ask suddenly dispelled. This seemed to becoming a common occurrence, he had thought. A large bang echoed on the wind, attracting both of their attention. "Ah, that's them now."

Cloud didn't really know what to expect, but when another bang erupted in the still air, followed by what looked like a bright light tearing through the night sky like it was just a paper screen, he somehow knew that he wasn't going to be disappointed.

Through the rift in the sky, a burning, screeching bird of flame dived through, red and gold feathery glows alighting the sky and sea as it skimmed over the surface. On top of the bird's back was the tiny frame of the sun god, who clung onto its long neck tightly as if terrified of being dropped. Long tail feathers, each burning with a coloured flame, trailed behind the bird, causing a rainbow of colours to appear along the surface of the sea.

"Meet Axel in his true form," Leon said simply. Cloud nodded; he remembered being told that Axel was actually a Vermillion Bird, otherwise known as a phoenix. "His father is Suzaku, the Vermillion Bird of the South."

"What? Even Suzaku is real?"

"And Byakko, Genbu and Seiryu," Leon replied. "Though no one knows where they came from or why they came to exist."

"So they aren't gods?"

"More like spirits. They've been around longer than we have. Besides, some of the Ni-jyou Kami are the children of them."

"But… how?"

"Not every mythical creature is what you think they look like. Even now, there must be hundreds of kitsune and tanuki and all kinds of creatures walking among the humans, looking just like them."

"What about seishin?"

"They can't contain human forms in that world."

"Why?"

"Because they were once humans too. Humans that have died can't go back. The dead can't be brought back." Leon sighed. "Not even those that died here."

"Not even the people you lost?" Cloud watched Leon's figure jolt at that.

"…did someone tell you?"

"Axel mentioned it."

"He did, huh…"

"You're not the only one who lost people too. Maybe not from that conflict but… I've lost someone important to me." He reached out to touch Leon's arm. "It happened. Neither of us could bring them back. So should we continue to mope over them and think about what could be done differently, or continue to live on?"

"What do you want to do?" Leon asked, pulling his arm away slightly. He didn't want the comfort. Cloud didn't try to persist.

"I… I think I want to move on." Cloud then sighed. "It's what she would have wanted."

"Your mother?"

"Yeah." He looked at the hotoke. "What about you?"

"…I think she'd want me to move on too."

"A friend?"

"A very close one," Leon answered. "But… I'm not sure if I can do that alone. It's already been hundreds of years since I lost her."

"Then she'd probably tell you that you've been moping around about her death for hundreds of years too long," Cloud stated. Axel let out a high pitched screech, the tips of his wings skimming the surface as if in play. "I know that my mother would say that to me if I had spent thousands of years grieving for her and not even try to move on."

"You're probably braver than me."

"It's not about being brave." Axel had now flown into the inner sanctum of the palace. "It's about realising that not everything is forever, and just that you have to continue to live on. For them if not for yourself."

"That what you told yourself?"

"It seems to work." He then looked over to Leon again. "Maybe you should give it a try. You might surprise yourself."

"Huh…" Leon's eyes met his again, and the silence fell between them. That same silence that led onto a kiss being stolen from the human. A touch of hands instigated by the hotoke. A small lean forwards. A small spark of electricity as lips were pressed against each other.

And Cloud knew he was powerless to stop it from happening.

* * *

While they were unaware, Yuffie, Zexion, Demyx and Larxene were watching them from afar, staying silent as it appeared things were working into Squall's favour. "Remind me again," Larxene started, "why Squall seems to still be having trouble."

"What's not to see," Zexion replied. "Lord Squall is too afraid to admit the truth to Cloud, but he's too prideful to ask for help either."

"Then what can we do to help him?" Demyx asked.

"There's not much we can do," Yuffie answered, looking up at them. "It's all on him. He's just got to stop being such a coward and just come out with the truth."

"This is Lord Squall we're talking about," Demyx pointed out. "He has a tendency to act at the last minute."

"He doesn't have that luxury," Zexion responded. "The sooner he admits to it, the better. It gives Cloud time to adjust to the fact that Squall and his Leon are one in the same."

"Yes, but how much time will he have to do just that?" Larxene questioned. "Do we even know how far along his curse is now."

"Squallie told me he had months," Yuffie reported chirpily.

"Months aren't enough," Zexion sighed. "Months can go by quickly for us gods."

"Then what can we do?"

"We'll just have to help them along," Demyx grinned. "I mean, I know we probably can't explain it to Cloud since Squall would get mad at us for meddling, but maybe we can prompt them to get closer."

"Eh…" Larxene was looking at the couple in question that seemed quite comfortable sitting next to each other. "How much closer do you want them to get? It's not like it's a case of true love's first kiss because from the looks of it they've had a couple of those."

"…Its acceptance," Zexion said softly. It gained him looks from the other three. "Yes love plays into the equation, but Cloud has to accept that Squall might end up being trapped in a child form and be forced to grow up into adult. That's a long wait for a human, even if he does now have thousands of years to spare."

"What makes you think Squall will end up getting trapped in his child form?" Yuffie asked.

"Simple. That curse is draining power from Squall and Seifer as we speak." A shake of the shadow god's head. "When one dies, the other will die soon after. Why do you think Squall had him locked up in the Penitence Garden as long as he has? It's to punish as well as to protect. And that damn tenshi knows that. He knows that all too well, so he doesn't fight back." He then sighed. "Cloud… everything is falling on him, and he doesn't even realise how important he is."

"Who woulda thunk it was the whore's kid that could break the curse," Larxene whistled lowly, ignoring the pointed look from Demyx and Zexion. "Oh come on, you guys were thinking it too. She got what she deserved for what she did to Squall."

"That doesn't mean you should call her that!" Demyx exclaimed in a high pitched voice. Zexion thumped his arm in response; 'Leon' and Cloud had noticed them from their spot.

If silences and the glare they were getting from their disguised master could kill, all four of them would have been turned to ash right where they stood. Cloud seemed more embarrassed then anything, turning his head away and refusing to look. "Taking to spying now, are we?" 'Leon' asked, his stormy eyes glowing brightly with an annoyed spark of thunder.

"Er, well, we just happened to be passing by! What a coincidence to see you and Cloud locking-" Yuffie yelped as what looked like a stray piece of roof tile crashed into pieces against the wooden beam she was standing next to. The false hotoke's hands were twitching to grab more.

"Passing by my arse," he responded. He then picked Cloud up; the human seemed to be growing used to being manhandled in this way. "Now excuse me while I go and search for some _privacy_." He started running off along the wall; Yuffie made to follow but Zexion just grabbed her wrist and shook his head.

"Don't. You'll only serve to antagonize him further." His eyes followed after the disguised god though. "We can't afford to create a distance between him and us. Because if it turns out Cloud can't break it, he's going to need someone to turn to. He's becoming desperate."

"What makes you say that?" Demyx asked.

"He's been spending more time with Cloud as of late in both his forms." Zexion stared up at the moon that was perpetually full. "Even with Rinoa and Yuffie he didn't act like this. So… he must know that the sands of time aren't on his side anymore."

"So you mean he doesn't have much time left?-!" Larxene yelled.

"That's the conclusion I've come to." Zexion was still staring hard at the moon; his father had alluded that Squall's time was running short, but he had no idea how much longer the storm god had left. "Time is now of the essence…"

* * *

Leon had said nothing on the way back to Cloud's chamber, which made the blond wonder if the hotoke had been embarrassed about getting caught. And by a fellow koukennin and three gods no less. He didn't dare ask; he had a feeling Leon would not respond to him even if he tried to coax an answer from him. Soon though, Cloud was deposited in his room.

"Won't you stay a little longer?" Cloud asked quietly; he'd never admit to it, but he was beginning to long for his company every night. Every time he asked for a little more time from the hotoke, Leon would give an excuse that prevented him from staying longer.

Tonight was different. "I'll stay." He clambered into Cloud's room, one knee on the floor while his other was bent and supported his weight, looking like leverage to flee if he needed to. Cloud just kept the seiza position, ignoring the feeling of tatami digging into his lower legs and knees. They just looked at each other for a long time, word nor expression other than uncertainty shared between them. It was that same electricity in the air; that very same spark Cloud always felt whenever they had a somewhat intimate moment with each other.

Leon moved a little closer, and that electric spark only intensified. It was burning the air like a white flame, making the atmosphere seem so dense and hot already even though the gap was closing between them. He guessed this was the next logical step for them. They had been courting for the best part of a month now so to feel him so close… nearly taste his presence…

Without an apology that was usually accompanied, Leon's lips met Cloud's again, kissing him chastely but innocence was no longer an acting factor of this action. No… the hot spark was intensifying so much it was becoming unbearable. So blistering and yet so sweet, he couldn't resist, finding himself vocally approving Leon's touch with a soft breathless moaning sound. The hotoke was encouraged by this, shyly letting himself move away and sweep his balmy tongue over the human's bottom lip, asking it to part away from its companion and grant it passage to the cavern it guarded. Cloud's lips complied tentatively, unused to this prompting from Leon, but he was not left disappointed.

The slow invasion of his mouth was awkward and shy, and yet eagerly the invader searched out every nook and crevice that was on offer to it. Cloud was just compliant to the demands, letting the foreign tongue dictate the pace of the deep kiss, only permitting himself to try and push back when Leon's tongue coaxed his to dance. His hands slowly reached for Leon's shoulders, gripping them tightly as he felt the hotoke's hand slide to the back of his hair, fingers raking through silky strands.

He smelt like a summer typhoon. The same typhoon that had besieged his village. He almost sighed in disappointment when Leon pulled away. "I have to go." He then stood apart, his body parting from Cloud's and yet the atmosphere was still as rousing and muggy as when they started their amorous encounter.

"Will I see you tomorrow?" he asked quietly. Leon just nodded his head before turning to the window.

"I'll see you tomorrow night." Like a ghost, the hotoke vanished into the night, leaving the human in his room. Cloud knew that there was little point in going to see if he could find Leon in the shadows; every time he went to the window to watch him go, the brunet hotoke would hide himself from view. It almost made him believe that Leon was only a part of his imagination.

He sighed softly; the scent of the typhoon coming from the brunet had made him feel a little nostalgic. It brought back memories when he was a little boy, sitting on his mother's lap while she whispered that mysterious verse every night, as the moon rose to its zenith. Prompted by the memory… he too whispered those words in her stead, although the moon was long past its highest point and was making the journey downwards to the western horizon.

"_Like a fragile flower that lasts only a summer,_  
_Thou body shall crumble, wilt and wither,_  
_Storms shall destroy it,_  
_Peace will renew it,_  
_An endless cycle remaining unbroken,_  
_Till love's sword is at last spoken._"

He dryly chuckled to himself. Such a stupid piece of nonsense really. It almost sounded like a spell. Yet his dark-haired mother repeated it faithfully over and over right up until her death. She was always crying when she spoke it, and he never really understood why such a fanciful nonsensical thing would make her cry so much. Maybe his absent father had created it for her, or maybe it was a curse on him. The village people had always said that she was a witch, but they just never had the means to prove the accusation.

He never really realised the severity of those beautifully crafted words.

* * *

Squall was doing everything within his power to hold back his pain, cursing the fact that he had taken a large detour back to his chambers just to be sure that Cloud would definitely be asleep by the time he returned. It meant walking straight past the Penitence Garden where his wretched captive was being kept, and it wasn't fun listening to Seifer's taunting. As it was, it only confirmed Xemnas' promise that all those involved with what happened all those years ago would feel the strain of the curse. Seifer was clutching to the lone tree in the garden, coughing up amber coloured blood; his white phoenix mark had already cut deep into his body and was progressing much more quickly. It was practically glowing in the moonlight.

Squall had forced himself to revert back to his child form, but even now the black dragon mark over his heart was putting him under pressure. Their eyes met for a moment… and they both knew what little time they had left.

"How… long?" Seifer asked, gasping for air as the pain finally began to subside.

"Two months," Squall replied, making himself sit on the steps leading into the stony garden. "Not enough time…"

"Tell me… you're going to save our asses… just please tell me that…" The little storm god couldn't answer the tenshi's plea. "Aw shit…"

"I can't make him fall in love with me. He has to do that himself. He has to accept both of me. You… know that."

"…He?"

Squall nodded his head slowly. "He."

"…you going to put our hopes in a boy?" Seifer knew that only young boys got sacrificed. More often than not young teens and unmarried men in their early twenties if there was one. That, and he had met Cloud once. He wasn't that impressed.

"He's not just a boy," Squall murmured. He paused, wondering if Seifer should know. He guessed that maybe he should; if they were going to die, the tenshi should know that Rinoa managed to give birth to a healthy child. "…he's your boy."

"…What?"

"Seifer… he's your son." The tenshi went very quiet, his eyes looking straight at the tiny god with a look of disbelief. "I know it sounds impossible, and I thought it was too, but he knew the curse. He said so himself that his mother was called Rinoa. He's from the time that Rinoa was sent to by Xemnas. It's too coincidental." Squall than grimaced a little. "And… he really looks like the pair of you put together."

"…you expect me to agree to this?" Seifer demanded, glaring at the little god. Squall didn't answer back. "Do you really expect me to agree to my son getting seduced by a ten thousand year old god that's trapped in a child's body?-!"

"Didn't stop you with Rinoa," Squall shot back.

"We were young…"

"You're seven hundred and fifty one years OLDER that Rinoa!" He then frowned. "And I'm only nine thousand seven hundred and seventy three."

"Like that makes it any better," Seifer scoffed. They shared a silent hard glare, neither man (or in the god's case, boy) willing to stand down from their argument. That is, until both realised that they weren't alone. They both stared up at the west wall, seeing yet another of Sephiroth's 'pet dogs' as Seifer called them with partial affection. If they hadn't known this one for as long as they had, many would believe the shinigami in front of them was a woman. Long silver hair that shone like the white moon, cat-like eyes green as emeralds and porcelain smooth skin canvassed across delicately feminine features, body covered by a black kimono robe, compared to the remaining triplets practical attire. This was Yazoo. Soft spoken, deceptively alluring Yazoo. "Whaddya want?" Seifer growled, giving the shinigami his most witheringly terrifying glare.

"Just checking on my favourite cursed god and tenshi," Yazoo replied, gliding to the ground gracefully. His feet barely made a sound as he landed on the gravel ground. "Especially since their lifelines are running short very quickly."

"More like come to check on us for Sephiroth's gain," Squall replied disdainfully.

"Well, two months until you tragically pass away and Sephiroth is concerned over his fellow ryoushu," Yazoo stated calmly, giving the pair an easy smile. It didn't falter when a sharp whoosh of wind sped past his ear, followed by the clattering of a steel weapon against stone wall. Seifer had thrown a small knife hidden in his hagoromo at the shinigami. "My, such a violent man for a divine being."

"Yeah? Well caged tenshi get pretty testy when they can't fly," Seifer snarled, looking like he had more where the knife had come from. "So I suggest you start running."

"Oh, I'm shaking in my geta," Yazoo replied in irony, overlooking Seifer as if he wasn't there and approaching Squall. The tenshi put himself firmly in the way; even if he and Squall weren't seeing eye to eye, his old duty as a koukennin overruled his personal feelings. "Lord Squall, Lord Sephiroth sent me to check if you had considered his generous offer."

"Generous offer?" Seifer questioned.

"I have," Squall stated, ignoring Seifer's questioning. "Tell him I still have some hope."

"As you wish," Yazoo smiled, bowing his head lightly in respect. "His offer is always open to you should you wish to take it."

"I suppose he has belief that I'll fail."

"I wouldn't say that… but he does know that you don't have a back-up plan. So he's offering you one." Yazoo walked straight past the pair, silver hair following after him like a solitary heavenly wing. "It would be in your best interest to not dismiss the generous hand Lord Sephiroth is offering to you." He then chuckled dryly. "After all, the stakes are much higher than was first expected." Even as he walked past, he seemed to fade into the shadows, his voice growing more like an echo with each step he took, until he utterly disappeared as quickly as he had appeared to them. Like a ghostly apparition. Silence fell on the quiet abandoned walled garden; the small storm god felt like he was drowning. Seifer would now ask what Yazoo had meant. Yet one more truth to withhold thanks to his curse.

"What did he mean by that?"

He couldn't answer, opting to just look at the ground instead. His mind was screaming the answer, but his mouth refused to open. He had learnt a long time ago that it was useless to struggle.

"Squall. Say something."

"…I can't…"

"What do you mean you can't?-!"

"…I just can't. Even if I wanted to say something about this, I can't." Squall turned to leave; he knew that if he hung around, only more questions would be asked.

"Bullshit," Seifer replied coarsely. "I know this curse is supposed to kill us. I know that it's killed Rinoa. What ever deal you're being offered isn't a part of this curse. And you know it."

"…how do you know about Rinoa?"

"A little bird told me," Seifer replied, hiding the identity of the messenger. Squall had a feeling he knew who this messenger was regardless of whether the tenshi told him or not. That interfering little sneak of a ninja… "Cut the crap and tell me about this deal. I have a right to know."

"You gave up your rights a long time ago when you and Rinoa went behind my back," Squall snapped coldly, his feet carrying him off at a quick walking pace. "And it's my business. Not yours."

"It is my business!" Seifer yelled back, watching the little god's back walk further and further away from him. "Cloud's my son! If we're going to die, I don't want him to be involved in the messy business!"

"Do you think I want that?-!" Squall had disappeared around the corner, hoping he wouldn't hear the tenshi's reply. The 'messy business'… the one secret shared between ryoushu and koukennin. The solitary reason why all the gods were so desperate to help and try to break his curse.

"Sometimes I don't even think _you_ know what _you_ want!"

And Squall was inclined to agree to that… but he wouldn't. He didn't want to hear his faults from the very person he trusted with his life that had betrayed him so cruelly with a wife who allowed her wayward emotions rule her head. He didn't want to believe that maybe he had been the catalyst to his own impending doom. He didn't want to hear that maybe it had been his own indecisiveness, his own slow but terrible anger, his own damn contentedness in just settling with anyone who claimed to love him and yet maybe… not even feeling that much himself for them, had been what caused all the pain and suffering.

No. He already spent several human lifetimes second-guessing himself and believing he only had himself to blame for what had happened. Seifer and Rinoa shared just as much of the responsibility for all their fates as much as he had.

Their son, on the other hand, had no idea of what had happened. Maybe he had yet to accept everything that he once believed as myth being proved true or overly exaggerated, and maybe he hadn't quite fallen in love yet, but he knew that Cloud shouldn't have to suffer the fate that would befall on everyone in Arashi no Rakuen if the curse came to its fulfilment. No one deserved that fate that was waiting with open jaws. His tiny hand clenched into a fist just as he entered the main part of the palace.

Only two months to get Cloud to accept both adult and child sides of him. Two months wasn't enough time, but he'd have to make do.

* * *

The human was sleeping soundly as the figure crept into his chamber, barely stirring as the tatami creaked under bare feet. He didn't even appear to be disturbed as he was moved onto his back and inspected like some priceless artefact. The figure knew that he could not harm the human; at a touch, the human's skin felt like he had been burned by hot coals. The storm god really had been extra careful when it came to protecting the human from the blades and touch of shinigami.

Yazoo just smiled lightly, bending over the human. He whispered so quietly, knowing that what he would say in his soft spell-like words would disturb the dreams the human was having. "When you break Lord Squall's hopes… when he takes his own life in order to save yours… Lord Sephiroth will be waiting for you." He then snickered lightly. "What the Shi no Kami wants, he will get. Unfortunate for you really, human. You'll just be handing it to him on a silver platter and not even realise it." He pulled away, moving slowly as he watched a frown appear on the human's face. His work was done. Only one more task remained. That would be performed by the third of the brothers.

"Good night, puppet. May you do your task well."

* * *

As morning broke, Cloud's eyes felt heavy. His dreams had been restless and dark, and yet for the life of him he could not remember what they were about. He forced himself to get up, pushing away the futon covers off his tired body. Without warning, the door slid open, revealing an unusually early storm god outside in the hallway. "Squall?"

"Get up. We've got to start preparing for tomorrow." He turned to leave.

"Prepare for what?" Cloud yawned.

"We're visiting Aerith."

"Aer…ith…?" Cloud asked stupidly, still half-asleep. He was rubbing the grit out of his eyes, idly wondering if there was such a thing as a creature that caused mischief while its targets were asleep. Squall sighed in exasperation.

"The Shizen no Megumi? Ringing any bells?"

"…Oh!" Cloud nodded his head as it finally connected the name to the title. And it remembered another fact. "I thought ryoushu couldn't leave their havens, with exception to Cid of course since the Highwind moves between havens."

"We can leave if we get permission, but it's rare," Squall replied. "Zexion got me permission from Xemnas months ago before you got here."

"And you're going now?"

"Aerith couldn't have guests around until tomorrow. She is the nature goddess. She's got the busiest job of all of us."

"Really?"

"With humans destroying everything in their path for the sake of progress, I don't envy her task one bit." Squall sighed. "Good thing being the god of storms means that all I have to do is provide rain or punish humans for being stupid."

"You make it sound like we humans have behavioural problems…" Cloud commented.

"Well you do. Why do you think we've been trying hard to reinforce good behaviour with rewards and bad behaviour with punishment for centuries?"

"And does it work?"

"Admittedly, we've discovered that humans aren't as easy to train as say dogs. We can't train them to jump through hoops and balance a ball on their nose."

"And you can for dogs?" Cloud asked sceptically.

"I managed to get a whole pack of them to do it in a week."

"…dare I ask why?"

"I was bored at the time." Squall gave Cloud a flat look. "It was a particularly boring part of human peacetime history. Your country's civil war over religion certainly made things more interesting after a couple of decades of forcing defenceless animals to perform tricks for my own amusement."

"…you are a very, very, very fickle little boy when it comes to humans."

"What makes you say that?"

"Judging from what you told me, you're happiest when you can throw a few lightening bolts for stupidity and yet at the same time you wish humanity wasn't full of idiots."

"Hmm… I hadn't thought of it that way."

Cloud couldn't help but roll his eyes. Why was it that Squall seemed to be the only god who couldn't be happy with peace and yet annoyed at human 'stupidity'? "So what exactly needs to be done before tomorrow?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Couple of prayers to answer, bags to pack, the transport to sort out…" Squall listed through everything that needed to be done, allowing Cloud to turn him around so that the human could change without having his modesty compromised. He just listened to the little god, nodding his head tiredly at each new item that was added to the to-do-list. Just as he was tying up his hakama, he looked over to the window as he heard something. Was that a particularly strong gust of wind just then? He wasn't sure, but he swore he saw something move just outside the window. "What are looking at?" Squall asked, having peeked over his shoulder when he heard Cloud stop in his work. The blond frowned heavily; maybe he was beginning to see things.

"Nothing." He tied the knot in front of his stomach, tucking the tails of the hakama's straps into the pant legs. He noted that Squall had yet to change as he looked back to the child. "We'll start with your list after you get changed out of your nightwear."

He tried not to think back to earlier, and as he found himself deeply engrossed in the tasks given to him he found that he could not remember what had disturbed him the night before or the strange movement at his window. And as it had not affected his day, why should he remember? No ill deed had been done.

Or at least, he had believed no ill deed had been done.


	9. Kyuuban no Monogatari

**A/N:** I'll be honest... I'm not entirely happy how this chapter came out, but I'm glad it's finally out of my head.

Next chapter is where the action will really kick in. Promise : D

Thank you for reading and reviewing so far! Please continue to do so~ for my reviews are my scones with jam and clotted cream~

* * *

It was still a little too unreal to the human as he boarded the floating ship, watching as everything was packed upon the vessel. Well… to be frank, the term of 'ship' might have done it a great disservice. It seemed more like a small floating fortress that just happened to own the body of a ship to support its wooden structures. Although it held no candle to the Sukai Shin's floating city, Cloud was still impressed that the gods were able to travel in such flights of impossibilities.

"Excited to go see a different haven?"

Cloud looked to the side of him; Riku had been one of the few seishin that had been drafted to come along with the Arashi no Kami to the Shizen no Kyuuden, alongside Sora who was excited to be leaving Arashi no Rakuen for the first time. To Cloud though, it was obvious that Riku had travelled between havens before.

"I don't really know what to expect," Cloud replied truthfully, watching as more people piled onto the ship. "It feels strange… to be leaving a place."

"You never travelled before?"

"When I was alive, I never left the village, but I heard of all sorts of stories about different places. I guess hearing stories just made me think I didn't have to go anywhere."

"I always find that seeing the place is better than just hearing of them," Riku commented. "That's why I left Shizen no Kyuuden initially."

"You're not from Arashi no Rakuen?" Cloud asked, surprised to hear this.

"Chikyuu no seishin are usually born at Shizen no Kyuuden, since Lord Lexaeus makes his home there," Riku explained, speaking of the hulking giant of the Chikyuu no Kami. "Sometimes, in order to maintain the havens, the ryoushu exchange seishin. Seishin of the sky can influence the weather, while seishin that are more earthly are needed to care to gardens. Too much of one type of seishin can cause more harm than good."

"I never knew that," Cloud murmured. "So all those hitodama…"

"The hitodama here in Arashi no Rakuen will most likely become seishins of water, lightning and wind, but since Lords Roxas and Axel spend a lot of time here too, a lot of hi no seishin and yoake no seishin are born here too."

"So you came here as an exchange."

"No," Riku replied. "I volunteered to come here. I had a chance to go back to the human world and act as a guardian spirit of a temple but I declined it."

Cloud was about to ask why, but Riku was suddenly knocked forward slightly by the extra weight of a very excitable Sora who was nattering away into the silver-haired seishin's ear. "Did you hear?-! Tenshi are going to be accompanying us there! Do they all look like Seifer?-! I heard you can't lie to them! Oh, but will they be in their crane forms?-!"

"Sora, you could just wait to see," Riku sighed, trying to shrug the yoake no seishin off his back to little effect.

"But I've never seen a tenshi before!"

"Is it that much of a big deal?" Cloud questioned.

"It's an event," Riku responded, still trying to shake off Sora. "Tenshi live in the sky in their own cities, but they are the only creatures in all of creation that are capable of travelling between realms of existence, but it's rare to come across one."

"Why?"

"They're the same as shingami," Sora smiled. "Tenshi escort the hitodama from Ankoku no Sekai to be born in other havens, while shinigami retrieve them from the human world so that they can be judged. Or at least, that's what I've been told."

"On that logic, tenshi very rarely will stay put in one place," Riku added. "They don't tire and they can't really stop because at least a thousand hitodama a day needs to be escorted between havens. It's actually one of the most important but taxing jobs in the worlds."

"Why would they be escorting us then?" Cloud asked. "It can't be that difficult to travel between worlds."

"Usually, but since Lord Squall is quite vulnerable as it is, it wouldn't be wise to try and brave the Lanes Between on our own. That, and not many people in Arashi no Rakuen have experience of travelling between realms." Riku then shrugged his shoulders. "But then again, Lord Zexion, Lord Axel and Lord Roxas have done it so many times before. They'd probably say differently."

Cloud could have asked more, but Sora's sudden yelping brought his attention to the sky. Yet another rip in the sky, and something remarkable was borne from it.

They appeared in the sky as four arrows of made of shining bright light, raining down to the ship's deck. As Sora had excitedly inquired, their appearance was that of glowing cranes, the light coming from them strong enough to illuminate the sky had it been night time. To Cloud, it seemed apparent that it was an old tenshi followed by three younger ones; one was smaller than the other three, one had battle-scarred wings, another was the largest and seemingly the most physically powerful and the last could have been female as it lacked the large crest on its head, instead it being just a small unassuming strip. As they landed on the deck of the ship, Cloud's expression gave over to amazement at how true his assumptions had been.

The smallest crane had changed into a boy that could not have been any older than fifteen years old. His hair was golden, his eyes were the brightest, deepest blue and his skin was pale, almost untouched by the sun. What was surprising to Cloud was how similar the tenshi boy looked to the Taiyou no Shin. No… he was an exact replica of Roxas.

The tallest crane had changed into a man that appeared to be in his early twenties, tanned from long periods spent in the sun, earthy-coloured hair that spiked at the top of his head but fell to form a sort of crest at the back of his head. He shared the same colour eyes as his younger companions but they appeared to be darker and less obvious than the other two.

The crane that Cloud had thought was a girl did in fact change into a woman with soft blue hair that framed her gentle features. Her blue eyes seemed to have the smallest flecks of violet in her deep irises, warmth flowing from them like the great rivers of the human world. Everything about her, from the way she carried herself to the way she smiled, seemed like it was a graceful dance. She could have not have been any older than twenty.

Finally, taking the front of the group but also taking the longest time to transform, an older man with a battle scar on his face and creases in his skin that suggested the rough passage of time and struggles he had confronted in his lifetime stood before them. His hair was black with tinges of grey hairs, his eyes were so dark they were almost black, and his skin was tanned and leathery from hard work. His white and gold outfit (hakama, armour plate and boots and an open kinagashi) made him appear holier than his physical earthly appearance. Cloud heard a few whispers; they questioned why the elders of the tenshi homeland would they send not one, but two tenshi that were clearly of half human heritage. Cloud then saw that Squall was boarding the ship and approaching the four tenshi.

"Master Eraqus," the little storm god greeted formally. The eldest tenshi bowed his head.

"Lord Squall, I am humbled to have been called upon as an escort," the old tenshi murmured in that same painfully polite tone.

"And these three are your best?" Squall asked, turning his eyes to Eraqus' young companions.

"Aqua has received her Mastery Mark as a fully fledged tenshi." There was pride in the old tenshi's voice. "This is her first mission before taking on the divine duties. Terra and Ventus are still apprentices, but they are my best pupils."

More whispers from some of the seishin; that even if Master Eraqus was sent here, he should not have brought two apprentices, especially since one was only half tenshi. They were silenced by one look from Zexion; he had just boarded the ship himself. "They look capable," Squall responded. "Let's hope the trip to Aerith's domain will be an uneventful one."

"One can only hope, my lord." They began to walk off into the bowels of the ship, leaving the three younger tenshi to look around. The seishin returned to their business, but they all seemed to actively avoid the brunet of the three newcomers. Cloud looked on; he had thought all tenshi were respected. Apparently there was something he wasn't aware of.

"He's only half tenshi," Riku suddenly remarked, answering the unasked question, gaining Cloud's attention. "I don't know much about tenshi hierarchy, but they say that any tenshi with brown to black hair and dark eyes is more human than tenshi."

"Tenshi can have children with humans?" Cloud asked, surprised by this revelation. He had heard of huntsmen and fishermen coming across tenshi maidens bathing in secret pools, capturing them by holding their hagoromo hostage and forcing the unfortunate maiden into marrying them. He never thought the legends were true; but then again, he shouldn't have been surprised to hear something like this being a possibility.

"If it's consented by both parties, then yes. Of course, a tenshi child in a human world will never be accepted, but a human child in a tenshi world will always be looked down upon. That's what I've heard."

"Oooo! Oooo!" Sora was suddenly excited, his blue eyes alighting with animation. "I know this! Golden hair and blue eyes are seen as holy by tenshi!"

"Sora, not so loud," Riku scolded, keeping a green eye on the three tenshi that were currently standing apart from them. "But yes, that's generally the gist of it. But there are obviously some differentiation; golden hair and blue eyes are seen as the purest, but there are tenshi with blue, red, green, or some other coloured hair. Some even have green or oddly coloured eyes. But brown and black hair, and brown and black eyes, those are ultimately looked down upon."

"Because they're more human?" Cloud questioned, more for confirmation that he understood what he was being told.

"Because they're more human," Riku nodded. "And I'm afraid that some tenshi can be terribly haughty about humanity as a whole."

"What do you mean?"

"I know this too!" Sora piped up, ignoring the look from Riku's disdainful expression. "It's because many tenshi believe its humanity's fault for causing such a change of heart in the Souzou Shin."

Cloud blinked. His race was to blame for the change in the Souzou Shin? Was that what started that nameless war no one was willing to talk of? "What did my race do to upset him so much?"

"The details are a bit sketchy," Sora replied, making himself look wiser than he really was. "But from what I understand, they gained knowledge."

"Gained… what knowledge?"

"Knowledge knowledge!" Sora exclaimed, flapping his arms a bit like a small bird in frantic flight in his bid to emphasise what little information he had.

"We don't know for certain," Riku responded. "That part of history is lost to humans and we seishin who were once human."

"If you three have enough time to jabber," inserted a voice; the sprightly voice of Squall's koukennin Yuffie, "then you should have more than enough time actually helping out with preparations." The two seishin stiffened suddenly, looking at the immortal with wide eyes. Yuffie turned her smiling face and dark eyes to Cloud. "Squall wants you to stay by his side. He said he'd feel better being able to see where you are."

"He doesn't think I can take care of myself?"

"Hmm… let's just say there are things in the Lanes Between that would probably grab you if given half the chance. He wants to minimise that possibility."

He quirked his eyebrow; something that would grab him if given just a moment to try? Was that the reason why these tenshi were here? Was there something in the Lanes Between he knew nothing about?

"Well go on! Get moving!" Yuffie exclaimed, grabbing him by the wrist and dragging him along.

* * *

Demyx was watching from the Hanging Gardens as the ship began to lift into the sky, sitting cross-legged on the cliff, a biwa lute in his hands to make a change from his normal sitar. He hoped that the ship's trip would be peaceful and uneventful. The Lanes Between were a dangerous place despite the stark and desolate beauty. He heard footsteps behind him. "A rare thing to see you apart from Roxas, Axel." He heard the other take a seat next to him. "I almost swear you two are joined at the hip."

"As long as he doesn't get himself into trouble, I know he'll be fine here." The redhead watched the rift open in the sky, seeing the streaking lights of the Lanes Between glow in the sky. "It's funny…"

"What is?"

"How the worlds are so detached from each other and yet they still are connected." Axel sighed, letting his long legs sprawl out in front of him. He was wearing geta instead of those field-worker boots of his, his toes wiggling a little. "Don't you wish things were back the way they were?"

"When us gods, the spirits and the youkai could live with the humans and animals in complete harmony in the same world?"

"Hmm," Axel nodded. "I do sometimes."

"We didn't have much choice back then. In order for the mortals to survive, the ryoushu had to break our world from theirs."

"You're avoiding my question Demyx."

A sigh from the Mizu no Kami. "Axel… trust me when I say I find humans fascinating. But I still believe that we were too foolish in believing that we could possibly rectify their behaviour. It's better this way. We shouldn't become too involved with them."

"I don't believe you." They stared at each other for a while, neither willing to move from their positions on the matter. "If you had it your way, you'd return to the humans without a second thought."

"It isn't the same anymore Axel," Demyx said softly. "I want to believe that humans are innately good, but all the wars, all the random acts of evil, all the fatal faults that they have... our existence in their world would only serve as a temptation. You of all people should know this." He turned to look back at the moon. "I'm just glad we were able to at least give their world a second chance. I can only pray that one day they will no longer see a reason to fight needlessly."

"But you know that everyone was happier when we weren't so disconnected and trapped in our own little bubbles," Axel protested. Demyx kept his head low, knowing in his heart that he had been happier when there wasn't such a chasm between the worlds of the gods and the realms of the humans.

"We blew it Axel. We destroyed that happiness. Humanity started fighting amongst themselves all because we were there with them. It was little wonder the Souzou Shin was willing to completely destroy that world after he saw how greedy and power-hungry humans can be if given the temptation." Demyx then stood up, sliding his instrument onto his back. "And Rinoa being here... that sort of power she had was enough to scare her own kind, and be the catalyst of showing how weak we gods are as well."

"How are we weak?" Axel frowned. Demyx sighed softly.

"Humans are not just based upon us by looks alone."

* * *

Cloud watched on in amazement as coloured lights sped past the grand ship as it flew through what he had been reliably informed was called The Lanes Between. On either side of the ship, the four tenshi in their large glowing crane forms flew, their wings causing shimmers of light to coat the ship and all the crew members that manned it. Some even landed on him, stroking along his palm as he reached out to catch some but for it to fade away quickly. What was this?

"You know," the young voice next to him started, causing Cloud to look down at Squall, "humans recognise tenshi as several different things but never realised they are all one in the same."

"What do you mean?" Cloud asked, curious to what other myths were about to be completely reshaped in his mind.

"The humans long ago believed that tenshi were angels that took the forms of glowing cranes when they shed their hagoromo, but they were more likely to see a tenshi in the sky. In that form, they called them shooting stars."

It brought back a childhood memory to Cloud. When he was eight, a shower of shooting stars appeared in the night sky at the exact same time his mother repeated that mysterious verse. While he could hear all the children shouting in glee at seeing so many, he had stayed by his mother's side and watch her cry at seeing the night sky. As if she knew something. She seemed to cry even harder at the sight of them. He wondered if maybe shooting stars triggered a memory that made his mother cry as hard as she did that night.

"You'd think that humans could come up with a story that shooting stars are really tenshi coming to their world, but it's surprising that they didn't. I guess humans aren't that flighty." He knew it was a backhanded compliment about humans not being as gullible as he thought, but Cloud was just willing to let it slide for now. He smiled a little bit.

"So tenshi are the ones guiding hitodama when they can leave Ankoku no Sekai," he murmured. "Right?"

Squall was a bit surprised at that –but unbeknownst to Cloud, the blond had no idea that the little god had seen Cloud when he wasn't behaving like a dutiful servant around the Leon persona. He then just looked away from the human, and stated officially, "That's right. Shinigami collect souls from the human world and escort them to Ankoku no Sekai, and if the soul has done enough good deeds in its lifetime and is judged favourably, it'll become a hitodama and the tenshi will take it to wherever they feel its best suited to be reborn as a seishin."

"But what happens if the seishin population outnumbers the human population?" Cloud asked, having given this quite some thought. Squall actually went silent for a little bit.

"... I don't think that's ever going to be a problem. Humans aren't naturally inclined to doing what might be seen as saintly." He then shrugged. "So coming to one of the havens is more like a reward for those that actually do live by what is believed to be the right thing to do."

"Me and Yuffie must seem really weird to them, seeing as we came to Arashi no Rakuen unconventionally," Cloud mused. "Maybe... most of them think it's unfair that we got there so easily."

Squall wouldn't say it, but with Yuffie they at least knew that Squall had directly interfered with her fate. Cloud's fate though... Squall had no hand in it at all. Even he had no idea how Cloud managed to wind up in Arashi no Rakuen, though everyone seemed to have assumed that he had arranged it since he _felt_ Cloud's presence in his haven. Zexion even said that he had saved Cloud from his watery grave.

But that wasn't true, and that scared him that he had no idea how this human had made it. Not to mention now it was obvious to him that Cloud was Rinoa and Seifer's son. It was almost scary at how much of a perfect time Cloud had appeared in his world. "Hey Cloud... do you remember much of that day?"

"Hm? What day?" Cloud questioned, blinking slightly.

"...the day you appeared at Arashi no Rakuen," Squall murmured, putting his arms on the railings and resting his chin on them. "I'm curious... what did you see before you appeared there?"

Cloud seemed to think hard on this, tapping his bottom lip in thought. "Well... I was blindfolded for most of the time I was on land before the sacrifice, but I remember that we were stuck in a typhoon." He didn't want to remember it, but he didn't know what else to say. "I was being sacrificed because they blamed me for it. Apparently I was such a pretty boy that it was making you angry."

"Wh-What?-! Something that superficial?-!" Squall was already plotting ways of completely massacring that village now. Did they get him mixed up with Marluxia?-! He was the type to get completely jealous of another pretty boy considering he doubled up as the god of beauty with his primary duty as the Hana no Kami.

"Yeah," Cloud confirmed. "They'd be surprised to find out that you're actually just a little boy who sometimes has tantrums."

"I do not have tantrums!" Squall protested, growling angrily. Cloud just smiled disarmingly at him.

"Anyway... I got on the boat, had the blindfold taken away from me... and after some pomp and ceremony I got pushed out to sea with nothing but the clothes on my back." He sighed, leaning back and looking up at the shining lights streaking above them. "I thought I accepted the fact that I was going to die but that day... I was actually terrified for my life. I didn't want to die like that. There was so much more that I could do in the world, even if it was only small."

"You were so scared that you couldn't do anything to help yourself?"

"There wasn't much I could do. I didn't have an oar and I was wearing clothes that would make me sink if I tried to swim away. Not to mention it would have been complicated to try and get all those layers off in a short amount of time. All I could do was cling for dear life and pray that you would stop the storm and save my life."

"But the storm didn't stop," Squall murmured. Cloud's prayer had never reached him; it must have been cut off.

"I'm not blaming you for it. Like I said, I was desperate to live, and now that I've seen how you deal with prayers I can understand that mine might never have been answered in time." He then smiled. "But someone must have heard because I ended up in Arashi no Rakuen. So maybe it did reach you and you just immediately responded somehow."

Squall blinked at that; no, that was impossible. Yes he did that for Rinoa and Yuffie in the past, but their pleas for help had happened before they were going to be executed by drowning. From what he had heard, Cloud had panicked while out at sea and made his desperate pray then, but he must not have had the chance to complete it. Squall had no idea that Cloud was going to be sacrificed to him at all. Which only left that something else had heard and answered him... but what power in all the realms could do that?

"...I do remember one thing before I completely blacked out," Cloud murmured thoughtfully. Squall turned to face him suddenly. "I had let go of the remains of the boat by that point and I was sinking... something was there with me though..."

"Something?"

"I can't really explain it that well... my memory is fuzzy when it gets to that point." Cloud grimaced and scratched the back of his head in thought. "It was a white light though... and I think there was a hand reaching out to me..."

Squall's eyes went wide. Something had interfered. But why would they drop him in Arashi no Rakuen? Was that why the shinigami were trying to get their hands on Cloud? Because he was a soul that hadn't been personally collected by a god and therefore didn't have the protection a soul would normally have just by association? Had something... or someone calculated all this? He frowned heavily. Why hadn't he thought of this until now? There was something highly suspect about Cloud's appearance. "Did you wonder what it was?"

"When I first remembered it, I did," Cloud admitted. "But after a while, I just put it down to maybe it being a messenger or you that picked me up."

"It doesn't bother you?" Squall asked incredulously.

"Not really, because at the end of the day, I'm alive." Cloud then paused at that, frowning slightly. "Or at least, not exactly dead if we're to believe that I didn't really drown... or maybe I did..."

Squall's face went flat as he looked at him. Even the person that all the mystery was surrounding had no clue what was going on. Was this a case of very selective amnesia? He then sighed... he was no closer to understanding why Sephiroth wanted Cloud, or why he was willing to compromise by taking his soul by leaving the blond alone, consequently halting Arashi no Rakuen from dying with him if this curse wasn't broken in time. Why would Sephiroth do that? He was just as much supportive of the notion of destroying the human world all those years ago, and supportive of seeing the Arashi no Kami being cursed as punishment for that wretched crime of his. He certainly wasn't going to believe it was just out of kindness.

There had to be something that not even the Souzou Shin had accounted for.

"Squall, is something bothering you?"

The little god brought himself out of his thoughts, looking up at Cloud with that same impassive default look of his. "No. Just thinking." His true thoughts running in his mind right now, with Yazoo and Kadaj's words ringing in his ears, were: _hurry up and accept me for what I am, you dolt._

* * *

Even if she wasn't privy to most of what the gods would say to each other, she already knew that tensions were running high amongst those of the Shizen no Kyuuden. For starters, Lexaeus, the Chikyuu no Kami, was restlessly trying to solve a puzzle, his hulking frame looking even more stiff and statue-like than normal. The Hana no Kami's fingers were tapping restlessly against a railing, frowning heavily at the sky. The visiting Kaze no Kami, Xaldin, seemed to be pacing restlessly, a slight breeze blowing through his braids as he walked. It seemed that the only god there that wasn't in any way fazed was the ryoushu of Shizen no Kyuuden: the Shizen no Megami, Aerith. She was kneeling in front of a flower patch that was nearby where the docks of her realm was, seeming to be able to move and tend to them despite the amount of finery she was decked in. Tifa had to wonder how her lady and mistress was able to even _walk _in the jūnihitoe. The cascading cherry blossom kanzashi hanging from her hair moved lightly with every move she made. She turned back and smiled at the three kishi-ranked gods and the koukennin known as "The Goddess' Knight".

"Why is everyone looking so gloomy?" Aerith asked sweetly. "We should be showing smiling faces."

Tifa had to force herself not to grimace; this was like Aerith. She was the most positive one of all the gods, the most nurturing and kind goddess that was so suited to her duties in caring for the land and all the creatures that dwelled on it. Even her eyes could be said to actually be something from the earth itself.

"My lady," Xaldin started with a sigh, "did nothing of the concerns brought to us bother you at all."

"...it bothers me plenty," Aerith replied, going back to tending her patch. "But we don't know for certain so we shouldn't dwell on it too much until we actually have more information on it."

Now it was Marluxia's turn to sit up straight and protest. "How can you be so calm about this? The fact that Yuna comes back earlier with a message saying that the Shi no Kami's personal collectors start knocking around at a very delicate time for Lord Squall is definitely something to worry about!"

"If we all run around like headless chickens, we won't see the truth clearly." Aerith then turned back again and smiled. "Besides, we shouldn't expect a visit from Sephiroth. According to him, this place that repulses him since it stinks of rebirth." She had said this so cheerfully it almost caused a collective sigh from all present. Honestly... Tifa didn't know whether to be envious of Aerith's cheerful disposition or despair of it sometimes. Even so... all those years ago, it had been Aerith's smile that always managed to encourage others to not give up even when it looked hopeless. "Ah! Speaking of things that Sephiroth is repulsed by, is Zack still at the watchtower?"

"That idiot said he wouldn't leave until the Arashi no Kami arrived," Marluxia shrugged nonchalantly, snorting lightly. "He's impossible. I don't get hoshii no seishin."

"Probably because you spend so much time on the ground that you don't get his air-headedness," Xaldin remarked. Marluxia's cheeks puffed up in annoyance.

"And you can? Please, you're such an old grouch, a vein pops out every time you hear the puppy's voice," was the returned, snide comment. And Tifa knew that it was all going to go downhill from that moment. Marluxia and Xaldin couldn't stand each other, the only thing stopping them from ripping each other to pieces being Aerith.

"Hey, Tifa," Aerith started, looking at her longest serving companion. The ruby-eyed girl blinked and bowed her head lightly.

"Yes Mistress?"

"Do you think that Squall's found someone that he can truly treasure after all these years?"

It came a bit as a surprise, mostly for the fact that Aerith for the first time in years actually sounded very concerned. She smiled lightly at the goddess, reaching out to affectionately push back a stray curly lock of hair behind her ear. "I'm sure he has, Mistress. Lord Squall isn't the type to give up trying."

Aerith didn't seem to be convinced, and Tifa knew that was because Aerith understood what her fellow god was like. She was worried that he might not comprehend that what he had to do could not be fuelled by a duty towards his own home. She was worried that he hadn't truly allowed the many locks and chains surrounding him to loosen by another after what happened with Rinoa. More importantly, she was worried about the consequence of Squall being unable to truly allow another into the world that he had locked himself in. But she forced a smile and nodded her head at Tifa. "You're right... he isn't the type to just give up without trying."

A whistle pierced the air, attracting the attention of all in the garden. They saw a figure waving to them at the top of the watchtower, though it was too far to see the physical details of the watcher's form. His voice, however, managed to reach them despite the long distance. "Ship sailing our way! It's signalling that it wants to dock!"

"It's Squall," Aerith murmured, smiling gently. "They've made it. That's good." She then stood up, watching as the large sails of the floating ship appeared into their line of view. All Tifa could do was watch the back of her mistress; she knew that Aerith was hiding her true feelings behind a mask of strength and serenity.

* * *

As the ship that carried the Arashi no Kami docked at Shizen no Kyuuden, one god was watching from far away, his eyes not even flickering as he concentrated on this one scene of life alone. The interest lay not in the meeting of fellow ryoushu; it lay more in one of the most important travel companions of the Arashi no Kami.

"What can you tell me, Luxord?"

His blue eyes flicked up at that moment, staring at the imposing figure of the dark man with orange eyes walking towards him, a long black ceremonial robe with white accents encasing his frame. The light glinted off his silvery locks, in some respects creating a sort of halo of light around his head. Luxord turned, stroking his short blond beard with a hand that was more used to playing with cards and gambling than fighting. "Not much that you haven't already figured out for yourself. The son of a human woman and tenshi father, but retains the father's colouring but very little of the mother's powers as a Sorceress. If anything, he is more tenshi than he is human." He snapped his fingers, causing the illusions of clocks that had been surrounding him to disappear without a trace. "I wouldn't worry about him being a threat to you, my lord. Or to be used as a weapon against you by the Arashi no Kami in vengeance. Lord Squall wouldn't spit in the memory of the woman he once loved."

The man frowned heavily; clearly he was unhappy with this verdict. He had wanted more reason to break the oath of seclusion from the human world in order to completely rebuild anew, and the Souzou Shin had (unfairly in Luxord's mind) decided that the Arashi no Kami was the most likely to cause a second uprising. Sometimes it was little wonder the Souzou Shin was as paranoid as he was at times. "So not an ounce of power?"

"If you call being able to discern truth and lie a power to worry about, then no. Nothing. No special powers. No apocalyptic demon sealed inside him. Not even a spirit of some ultimate weapon that would be able to kill you." Luxord stood from his seat, letting his own flowing robes of white, silver and red fall to the floor and cover his bare feet. "Furthermore, he isn't destined to overthrow you. Please stop obsessing over the poor boy and the Arashi no Kami and give them some peace."

"Break your oath and tell me what is in the future then. Assure me that this boy won't be used against me," the Souzou Shin demanded, pointing his finger at the Jikan no Kami. Luxord just kept an impassive face, shaking his head lightly.

"All I do is oversee time, not act as your personal fortune teller, my lord." He intended to walk past the higher ranking god. "All I can say on the matter is that the Arashi no Kami is not some traitor biding his time to strike you when you least expect it. He doesn't have the luxury of time thanks to you." He stopped when he felt his arm being grabbed. "Xemnas, back then, I supported you but did not fight for you because I understood back then it was not the fated time for you to fall but neither was it the fated time for the world to come to an end." He pulled himself away. "I do not intend to be used as a tool by any person, including yourself."

He could feel Xemnas' eerie orange eyes on him as he walked away, boring holes into the back of his head. He then stopped for a moment, and stroked his beard. "Though saying that," Luxord started, "it's interesting to note that Sephiroth's personal guard dogs have suddenly taken an interest in the boy. Maybe they don't want to be cheated of another soul by the Arashi no Kami."

"See! He must have noticed something in that boy!" Xemnas shrieked, looking ready to go charging to Shizen no Kyuuden to retrieve the boy before he could be used against the Souzou Shin.

"My lord, the Arashi no Kami had nothing to do with the boy's appearance in Arashi no Rakuen as hard to believe as it is." Luxord turned around to face him. "There is not some grand plot against you by those you believe to be your foes. There is not something for you to worry about, and I think you should go elsewhere to relieve the stress you've put yourself under. Good day."

He walked out of the room and into the lunar daytime of the Souzou no Kooto, looking up at the starry sky and the human world that was up in their view on this day. Just one world of three that shared the Souzou no Kooto as a moon in their night time sky, cocooned and protected by the four spirits created by four goddesses so very long ago, long before he was born. The world that Xemnas was so determined to destroy; and Luxord had no idea why a creator would want to destroy his own creation. Even more vexing was his sudden preoccupation with a half tenshi, half human boy. Yes the boy's mother was unlike average humans, but he barely had an ounce of magical ability in him other than the normal tenshi ability to know when a lie was being told. He didn't even possess the ability to change into a crane. The boy was nothing to be feared of on the surface.

And yet even Luxord could sense that he was something quite important to the realms of the gods. Even if he could sense what would come, he could not truly grasp the full concept of what the future truly had in store for all. When he could, he couldn't tell. It was his oath to never tell the future's truth, for that was for the future to know only.

All he knew was that Sephiroth had taken a great interest in this one boy to send out his shinigami koukennin to retrieve his undeclared soul, even going to the lengths of having them broker deals with the Arashi no Kami. "If anything Lord Xemnas... it is the realm of death you should be turning your eyes to."

* * *

Cloud had stared at the ground for a while, unaware of the crowd he was gathering around him. He was staring at that first bit of land of Shizen no Kyuuden; once he stepped on, he would have visited another realm of the gods. Sora was crouching to the side of him, cradling his head with his hands, Riku standing behind him.

"Do you think he's going to get off soon, Riku?" Sora asked.

"Give him time. He's probably trying to figure all that has happened in his head," Riku replied.

"Huh... to think he was quite quick to understanding that he is pretty much dead if he steps foot in the human world like this, but he's finding it difficult that there is more than just Arashi no Rakuen."

"Is this really that entertaining?" a new voice asked from beside Sora.

"It kind of is considering he's like the first human I've ever seen coming to terms with this sort of situation." Sora turned to the side to greet the newcomer; a man with hair as black as night and deep bright blue eyes, Sora noticed that there was the twinkling of stars in them. "Oh? A hoshii no seishin? You guys rarely leave the sky."

"I'm what you call a fallen one," the man grinned at them. "Name's Zack."

"And that's a highly unusual name for a seishin full stop," Riku deadpanned. He then noticed Cloud was making a move. "Oh. Looks like he's come out of his stupor."

Cloud had taken a deep breath and placed one foot on the new ground, following it with his other foot so that he was now standing on solid ground. He looked up, stared at the crowd with a 'what are you looking at?' glance and then started to walk off, keeping an air of dignity around him despite being so strange. Sora and Riku shrugged their shoulders. "He always that uptight?" Zack asked.

"It's more to do with a sense of pride than anything. That and he's not really the type that likes to cause a scene or trouble for Lord Squall," Riku answered. He then helped his friend to stand up again. "We should probably get going too. We have tasks that need to be done."

"Ah... even on holiday we still have to work!" Sora whined as he followed Riku.

"We're not on holiday Sora! We're still working! Working!"

Zack just watched them walk off and then turned to the human's retreating back. He smiled a little to himself. That human was really interesting.

* * *

"You took your time," Paine commented, swinging her little legs back and forther. She had taken to sitting on Cloud's shoulders these days since his balance could rival that of a geisha's, making his shoulder a very comfortable perch indeed.

"It was just something to get used to. I'm sure I'll get better at these sort of things the more time I spend in these realms," Cloud retorted. He was used to Paine sitting on his shoulder now.

"Hmm... I wonder why Master decided to come here though. He doesn't leave Arashi no Rakuen to make social calls."

"Maybe he wanted a change of scenery?" Cloud suggested, slipping his geta off his feet before stepping onto the porch of one of the many pristine white buildings of the Shizen no Kyuuden. Everywhere he looked it was covered in flowers of many colours. Not a single garden was without some form of bloom painting its visage. Flowers were even painted onto the papery panels of the shoji doors, along with wisp-like birds and ethereal animals.

"Maybe but I don't think Master's like that really."

"You never know. He might surprise you," Cloud smiled lightly. He had to admit that there was something a little endearing about the child god. He honestly did try to act more mature than his outward appearance suggested, but Cloud honestly wondered if there were times when Squall just wanted to throw caution to the wind and play like any normal child. Coming here might be his one chance to just be spoilt for a while; from what he had heard the Shizen no Megumi was like an older sister to Squall. He wondered if this might be his chance to see Squall acting his age.

"Hmph," Paine huffed. "I've been with Master for thousands of years and I can tell you now that he won't surprise me. Not one bit."

"And yet you were surprised by this house call?"

"...Touché."

"Hey! Master Strange Human!" There couldn't have been a more obvious call out to Cloud even if someone tried, he turned around, seeing an odd man running towards him, unruly black hair falling from the back of his head in spikes. His hakama and gii were loose and in disarray. He looked shady to Cloud.

"May I help you?" Cloud asked carefully.

"No need. Just wanted to say hi," the man grinned as a skidded to a halt in front of him. "I'm Zack. Well, the real name is Zakusu, but everyone just calls me Zack."

"...Cloud," the human replied, not really sure what to make of this. He tried to lean his body away from the strange man as he peered and took a look at him. "What?"

"Yup, you seem like a good guy," Zack stated with authority, grabbing Cloud by the wrist and dragging him elsewhere. Paine yelped in protest when her perch was yanked from under her so sharply. "I'll give you the grand tour of the place. Who better than a koukennin of the Shizen no Megami?"

"H-Hey!"

* * *

Far above the scene, the Shizen no Megami and the Arashi no Kami watched as the hoshii no seishin koukennin dragged away the strange human servant, the small messenger of the Arashi no Rakuen's following after him. Aerith smiled over to the younger god, clearly trusting Zack. "He'll be fine Squall. Zack's an accomplished koukennin. He'll keep Cloud safe while you're here." Her face then fell. "Though... I'm not entirely happy with your proposition either."

"Aerith, I don't have much time left. Too much is riding on this," Squall murmured. No matter how he thought of it, even if he brought himself to let himself be open to the strange hybrid that had washed up in Arashi no Rakuen, he had little hope that Cloud would reciprocate in any fashion. He just couldn't go through that sort of disappointment at this late stage of the curse. Keeping an adult form was getting harder every day, that tattoo on his chest digging deeper and deeper into his chest and piercing his heart the closer to the end they got. Some days just maintaining the form of a ten year old child was difficult and he'd revert himself to that of a six year old when he had a private moment for himself. He couldn't go on like this... and Sephiroth's offer of halting the process entirely for the price of his soul was becoming more and more tempting every day.

"You have to have some faith in Cloud though," Aerith murmured, bending down to his level and holding his shoulders gently in her delicate hands. "Surely if you just explain to him that the 'Leon' he knows and you are one in the same person, and if you just explain your curse to him, I'm sure he would understand." Aerith was the other person that knew of the extent of Xemnas' curse on Squall, having witnessed the Souzou Shin placing it upon him when he punished the Arashi no Kami, his tenshi koukennin and the human enchantress at the centre of the troubles for causing such strife to the realm of the gods. She had been the first to appeal to the creator god to make her brother-like figure's sentence more merciful for the original had doomed him to die with no hope of atonement. For that, Squall had always been grateful to her but at times wished she had never bothered.

"How could he ever understand? I can't even speak a word of my curse to anyone! Zexion only figured it out for himself when he came across me reverting to a child form hundreds of years later!" Squall griped, for the first time just wanting to behave like a child and pitch a fit on how unfair it was. Aerith's shell-coloured nails dug lightly into his shoulders.

"You should give him a little credit. He's done considerably well so far." Aerith's smile was so calm and peaceful that anyone would have been encouraged by it. "I'm sure he can understand. Just don't leave it too late otherwise he won't know how to react if it doesn't scare him."

Squall just nodded his head... he knew that. But he also knew that he would never be able to show Cloud what had happened to him until it was almost too late, because how can someone accept another when they find out the man that had pretty much forced his way into the other's heart and the boy that ruled over them were the same person?

If he were in Cloud shoes, he wouldn't be able to accept it.


End file.
